Summer Tours of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse
Summer is slipping away. Make plans now to visit historic Pomham Rocks Lighthouse in Riverside. Tour season ends August 28. The summer season is the only opportunity for the public to visit the local landmark, which has been fully restored inside and out.
Your experience starts at the dock at Edgewood Yacht Club, 1 Shaw Ave., Cranston. Ample parking is available. You will travel for a 10-minute boat ride to the lighthouse, off the coast of East Providence in upper Narragansett Bay, in the Lady Pomham II. This 26-foot launch sports a canopy to protect you from sun or an unexpected shower. Lady Pomham II provides the only access to the lighthouse. The island and dock are not open to visitors traveling on their own personal watercraft.
Built in 1871, the lantern room in the 42-foot tower at Pomham Rocks Lighthouse affords a panoramic view of the bay. Tour guests are welcome to climb to the top of the tower and to explore the interior museum which hosts displays of authentic artifacts used in lighthouses during the past one hundred and fifty years. Storyboards recount the history of not only Pomham Rocks Lighthouse, but also five others that once guided ships to the port of Providence. The centerpiece of the first-floor display is the antique fourth-order Fresnel lens that lit the lighthouse almost a century ago. Knowledgeable volunteer docents are available to answer your questions and assist you. The lighthouse gift shop offers apparel and mementos.
For more information, to see a calendar of tour dates or to register for a tour, visit the lighthouse website at https://www.pomhamrockslighthouse.org. Fares range from children age 6 to 17 for $25 to adults for $50, with discounts for members of Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse.
Visitors on a tour enjoy a view of the bay from the Adirondack chairs at Pomham Rocks Lighthouse
Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse is a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation. This important New England maritime light station and museum is an integral part of Rhode Island’s heritage and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.