{"id":4436,"date":"2024-09-01T01:46:26","date_gmt":"2024-09-01T05:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nelights.com\/blog\/?p=4436"},"modified":"2026-07-28T11:56:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:56:13","slug":"tragedy-at-two-rhode-island-lighthouses-from-hurricane-of-1938","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nelights.com\/blog\/tragedy-at-two-rhode-island-lighthouses-from-hurricane-of-1938\/","title":{"rendered":"Tragedy at Two Rhode Island Lighthouses from Hurricane of 1938"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rocky<\/a>

Rocky Shore Around Beavertail Lighthouse<\/p><\/div>\n

Tragedy at Two Rhode Island Lighthouses
\n<\/span>Caused by New England\u2019s Worst Hurricane in 1938<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
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On September 21, 1938, one of the most destructive hurricanes in recorded history struck Long Island and Southern New England. It was only supposed to be a breezy fall day in New England, but the track started surprisingly barreling up the coast. The storm hit Long Island and southern Connecticut on September 21 with sustained hurricane-force winds of 121 miles per hour and a maximum recorded wind gust of 186 mph, the highest ever recorded. It produced three to seven inches of rainfall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Rhode Island got the worst of it. The storm surge, ranging from 12 to 15 feet, destroyed most coastal homes, yacht clubs, and marinas on Narragansett Bay. More than 63,000 people lost their homes. Almost 20,000 public and private buildings were damaged, and 100 bridges had to be rebuilt. Nearly 700 people died in the storm (682), and damages came to over $300 million at that time, equivalent to almost 5 billion dollars today. Rhode Island also mourned tragedies from this destruction that struck two lighthouses on Narragansett Bay from the storm at Prudence Island (Sandy Point) Light and Beavertail Light.<\/p>\n


\nTragedy at Sandy Point (Prudence Island) Lighthouse<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

As shipping, whaling, and trade grew, along with tourism to the area, petitions were made for a lighthouse to guide mariners away from the dangerous shoals offshore and along Sandy Point on Prudence Island. In 1852, the existing lighthouse on Goat Island in Newport Harbor was dismantled and relocated to Prudence Island, where it became the current Prudence Island Lighthouse. It had a wooden keeper’s dwelling built near the light.<\/p>\n

\"Prudence<\/a>

Prudence Island Light Lies Only a Few Feet Above Sea Level<\/p><\/div>\n

On September 21, 1938, with hardly any warning, New England\u2019s worst hurricane caused massive wind gusts and a giant tidal wave to come up Narragansett Bay, destroying everything in its path. Three guests had arrived beforehand to visit Keeper George Gustavus at Prudence Island (Sandy Point) lighthouse<\/a><\/strong>. They were former keeper Martin Thompson, James Lynch, and Lynch\u2019s wife, Ellen. Gustavus\u2019 wife, Mabel, and their youngest son of ten children, Eddie, were also at the house. The keeper\u2019s two young daughters were still at school when the storm struck.<\/p>\n

\"Vintage<\/a>

Vintage Image Prudence Island Light – Courtesy US Coast Guard<\/p><\/div>\n

As the winds continued to intensify, all six took refuge on the second floor of the keeper\u2019s building, where former keeper Martin Thomson assured everyone that the structure was sturdy enough to withstand the storm. The keeper’s instincts turned out to be incorrect. The massive storm surge raised the water levels so high that ferocious waves crashing into the building caused the structure to break apart. All six occupants were swept under the tidal wave. Keeper Gustavus was swept back to shore about a half mile from the lighthouse and miraculously made it to safety with the help of 18-year-old George Taber, a local islander who saw the keeper near the shoreline. Gustavus learned soon afterward, much to his horror, that his wife, son, and their three guests had perished in the storm. His other children had survived the incident. Only the lighthouse tower survived the hurricane.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Keeper\u2019s Worst Nightmare Comes True at Beavertail Light<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Beavertail is the third oldest lighthouse in America, located at the southern tip of Conanicut Island, on Narragansett Bay, facing the open seas. Near the current Beavertail Lighthouse, Beavertail Point had a watchhouse constructed in 1705 by the early settlers. It was then developed into a fire-lighted beacon that was tended by the local Indians in 1712. The first government-funded lighthouse consisted of a 69-foot wooden tower, which used fire as a light source and was erected in 1749. The tower burned down in 1753, and a new one was built about 100 feet from the original location, this time made of brick and stone.<\/p>\n

\"Beavertail<\/a>

Beavertail Lighthouse Over Rock Formations – Sepia Tone<\/p><\/div>\n

During the unexpected tidal wave caused by the 1938 hurricane, Keeper Carl Chellis of Beavertail Lighthouse<\/a><\/strong> was doing his best to protect the beacon as the storm surge battered it. The lighthouse, facing the open waters, was being pummeled by rocks and debris flying everywhere from the destructive winds. The hurricane damaged most of the buildings at Beavertail and exposed the foundation of the original 1749 tower, which is 100 feet from the new tower.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Assistant Keeper Edward A. Donahue threw himself into the ocean to escape the engine room, which was collapsing around him, believing “it was the easiest way to die.” Donahue’s son saw his father just in time to jump into the raging waters to try to save him, and both were eventually able to swim back to shore and find shelter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As the storm approached the region without warning, school officials closed the schools that day, feeling that the children would be safer at home. The local school bus carrying Keeper Carl Chellis’s son and daughter was heading towards the lighthouse when they were blocked by a car pitched across the road. The bus driver, Norman Caswell, fearing he and the seven children he was transporting would drown if they stayed on the bus, tried to bring the kids to higher ground. As they all got out of the bus, the tidal storm surge hit and swept six of the helpless children away with the bus, drowning all except the keeper’s son and Caswell himself. Caswell fell into shock after watching the children perish.<\/p>\n

It was hours later when Keeper Chellis had nearly escaped with his own life as he watched Beavertail Lighthouse almost be destroyed by this destructive storm. Still, he also had to receive the horrible news that his daughter had also drowned in the tidal wave sweeping over the school bus.<\/p>\n

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Caswell died shortly after the incident, overcome with guilt and unable to cope with the deaths of the children. Keeper Chellis would perish seven years later on a tour of duty in the Pacific during WWII. Assistant Keeper Edward Donahue remained at Beavertail until he died in 1953 after over 40 years in the Lighthouse Service and Coast Guard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Dark<\/a>

Dark Clouds Over Beavertail Lighthouse<\/p><\/div>\n

In the \u201cwind that shook the world,\u201d as it was later called, New England lost more than 25 percent of its cherished elms, and over half a million property deeds had to be resurveyed because of severe storm damage. In New Hampshire alone, one and a half billion board feet of timber were knocked down; \u201cstorm\u201d lumber recovery would take years. When war broke out in Europe, much of the lumber was used to build military barracks and the interiors of transport ships.<\/p>\n

The Hurricane of 1938 was also responsible for the destruction of Whale Rock Light<\/a><\/strong> and for taking the life of its keeper. The beacon was located a relatively short distance from \u00a0Beavertail Light by the western shore.<\/p>\n

New England has never experienced as much destruction as this storm. Without today’s technology, numerous warnings would have been provided, so this scope of tragedy and destruction should never be replicated on such a massive scale again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n