Squantum Grant Will Help Restore Turn-Of-The-Century Picket Fence at Pomham Rocks Lighthouse

If you have glanced over at the Lighthouse on your stroll or ride along the East Bay Bike Path recently, you may have noticed something new happening. A freshly painted white picket fence has been winding its way around the south side of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse in Riverside this fall. Its appearance of classic simplicity contrasts dramatically with the actual time and effort needed for the project. Construction of an historically accurate wooden fence on a concrete retaining wall rising high above the Providence River, on an island, is no small feat. Nor is it inexpensive.

Thanks to a recent $4,000 grant from the Squantum Association Charitable Foundation, Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse will be able to continue to work on the fencing next year. “We sincerely thank the Squantum Association Charitable Foundation for their continued support of our efforts to preserve and restore Riverside’s historical light station,” noted Friends’ Chair of the Board of Directors Dennis Tardiff. “This grant will allow us to move forward with this important project.”

Built in 1871, Pomham Rocks Lighthouse originally had a white wooden rail-style fence around the perimeter of the island. That was converted to a white flat-top picket design around 1900, as evidenced by photos and postcards of the era. The picket fence was replaced with a metal chain-link fence in 1939. After 84 years of service, New England weather has taken its toll on the iron supporting posts, resulting in rusting and corrosion.

Paul R. Williams, Squantum Association Board Member said, “We are proud to continue our partnership with the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse in their continuing effort to restore Riverside’s historical lighthouse. We are shoreline neighbors and our charitable foundation, funded by Squantum members, is chartered to support charitable and community organizations to improve the quality of life in our state.”

True to their mission of restoring the local Lighthouse and grounds to the highest degree of historical accuracy, members of Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse embarked on a multi-year major project to replace the chain-link fence with an historically accurate wooden picket fence, bringing it back to its original appearance at the start of the twentieth century.

Initial plans involved removal of the existing chain link fence and installation of wooden posts to anchor the rails and pickets. Phase one, initiated in September, encompassed installation of the wooden fence on the south side of the island, along the perimeter concrete wall. “I am very happy with the way it turned out. It is sturdy, historically accurate, and looks great,” stated Rick Lux, Friends Board Member and coordinator of the fence project. “It was a complicated project and we very lucky to have help from member Jay Dent, who is a skilled carpenter,” he added.

Phase One included removing all chain-link fencing and posts along the south retaining wall and installation of cedar posts and 137 feet of rails and pickets along the wall. Volunteers applied primer and double coats of severe weather grade paint to all sections of the fence and repainted the concrete retaining wall.

Phase Two will replace the fence on the west side of the Lighthouse, the front of the building, facing the Providence River. With funding now in place from the Squantum Association Charitable Foundation, work is scheduled to begin in spring 2024.