Squantum Awards Grant to Pomham Rocks Lighthouse

The Squantum Association Charitable Foundation recently awarded a $2,500 grant to the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse. It is one of the inaugural grants of the newly-formed charitable foundation. “We are grateful to the Squantum Association Charitable Foundation for their generous support that will enable us to continue our efforts to restore Pomham Rocks Lighthouse with historical accuracy,” stated Dennis Tardiff, chair of the Friends’ Board of Directors.

“To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of our Club in 1872,“ noted Squantum Association Board Member Paul Williams, “we initiated the Squantum Association Charitable Foundation. It is funded independently by our membership to support charitable and community organizations which improve the quality of life in our state. We are happy to have one of our first donations assist FPRL, our long-time community partner,” he added.

This is the initial year that Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse have offered tours to the public to visit the island light station in Riverside. One of the first things many visitors do upon arrival is to sit on the white Adirondack chairs facing the river. Perched high on the island, they offer a panoramic view of the bay and a cool respite from the summer’s heat. Funding from the grant will allow the Friends to provide eight additional Adirondack chairs to accommodate guests on the tours.

The remaining funds will be used to replace the internal piping needed to restore the connections on the northern downspout of the lighthouse to the building’s cistern. The cistern, a sealed brick-walled underground water reservoir, was restored last year and is now in working order. Since 1871, Pomham Rocks Lighthouse has relied on rainwater collected from its red tile roof to furnish water for cooking, bathing and drinking. A large gutter surrounding the roof and two downspouts direct the rainwater collected by the roof into pipes which lead to the storage cistern in the lighthouse cellar. Originally the system was connected to a hand pump in the kitchen, which allowed the keeper to pump water out of the cistern as needed. The system now feeds the faucets on the first and second floors of the lighthouse and a flushing toilet. A divertor valve on the exterior piping allows the water flowing from the roof to be monitored. When the water runs clear, the divertor valve can be closed manually, allowing the clear water to flow into the cistern for future use. The downspout system on the south side of the lighthouse is currently in use. This grant will provide funding to restore to its original historic function the piping system connected to the north side of the building. Both the north and south downspouts were operational when the lighthouse was completed in 1871.