1885 — Gould Island, east end of Gould Island, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.—A light is now maintained at this point by private parties. The Board is of opinion that a light and fog-signal should be established here, as the great steamers of the Old Colony Steamboat Company, which pass Gould Island, carrying thousands of passengers and millions of dollars’ worth of freight, should not be jeopardized by the failure of a private light. It is estimated that a proper light and fog-signal can be established here for $18,000.

Appropriated by act of Congress for a lighthouse and fog-signal at Gould Island, Rhode Island, March 3, 1887, $10,000.

1887 — Gould Island, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.—An appropriation of $10,000 was made by the last Congress to establish a light and fog-signal on this island. A site for the new station was selected and negotiations are in progress for the acquisition of its title.

1888 — Gould Island, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.—A site for this light-station was selected and surveyed, the price to be paid was agreed upon, and plans and specifications for the tower and dwelling were prepared. Title to the site has been acquired and proposals for doing the work have been invited.

1889 – Gould Island, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.—A bell struck by machinery, June 10, 1889.

1889 – Gould Island, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.—A keeper’s dwelling and light-tower, with fog-bell attached, were built, and the light and fog-signal have been in operation since June 10, 1889.

1890 – Gould Island, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.—Four boundary posts to mark the corners of the reservation were set and the site was inclosed by a five-strand galvanized iron ribbon with a rail on top of the posts.

1892 – Gould Island, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.—Boat davits were set up on the wharf. Various minor repairs were made.

1894 – Gould Island, on east side of Gould Island, Rhode Island.—A boathouse, boat cradle, and boatways were built, and various repairs were made.

1898 – Gould Island, Rhode Island.—A brick oil house was built and covered with galvanized iron. Repairs were made.

1947 – Gould Island Lighthouse was discontinued on March 17, 1947 and was replaced by an automated light on a skeletal tower and an automatic fog horn.

1972 – Newport Mercury, December 8, 1972. The Gould Island light and fog signal has been saved because of protests by Rhode Island boatmen and organizations, according to a Coast Guard spokesman. Tentative plans to abandon it have been dropped.

1973 – Newport Mercury, October 10, 1973. The Coast Guard yesterday said by Dec. 1, it will discontinue the fog signal at Gould Island in the East Passage of lower Narragansett Bay. The diaphragm horn fog signal, at the northeast end of the island, apparently is no longer needed for safety and navigation. The light there and another at the south end of the island will remain in operation. Lt. Cmdr. Ransom K. Boyce, chief of the Coast Guard’s aids to navigation branch in Boston, said the decision to discontinue the fog signal was based on a lack of response to its proposed shutdown. Only two protesting letters were received, compared to 30 or 40 last November when the move was first proposed, he said.

1988 – After its foundation failed, the skeletal tower toppled over on October 24, 1988, and the light was not replaced.

Keepers: Edmund Taylor (1889 – 1923), John "Jack" Larsson (1923 – 1940), Leonard A. McCarthy (1940), Charles H. Eldridge (1940 – 1944), Richard A. Fricke (1944 – 1945).

No light exsists at this location today.

Find the closest hotels to Gould Island Lighthouse