WARWICK, R.I. – For nearly two centuries, the guiding light at the southern point of Warwick Neck has directed boaters away from the shore as they’ve navigated Narragansett Bay.
But now, the historic, 51-foot-tall lighthouse seeks to lure a buyer.
According to a listing posted by the General Services Administration, a federal agency, the active lighthouse and its adjacent, three-bedroom residence, will soon go up for public auction online.
The listing did not indicate when bidding on the property will begin and end – it said only that the 1.3-acre property would be up for auction “soon.”
The specialist for the GSA behind the listing did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
Warwick city records show the property has an assessed value of slightly more than $1.5 million, with the land worth the vast majority of that sum, or about $1.3 million.
A lighthouse was first built on the property at 1350 Warwick Neck Avenue in 1827 – a “wooden light tower mounted on the roof of a stone dwelling,” according to a form submitted in 1987 that was used to place the lighthouse on the National Register of Historic Places.
The lighthouse was the first non-harbor light on the bay, and is “significant for its role in the state’s maritime economy,” the form says.
“Because of the importance of Providence as an early center of trade, a light was needed at Warwick Neck to guide ships through the narrow straight between the Neck and Patience Island en route to the Providence River,” the filing says.
The original tower and dwelling were torn down in 1932, when the current lighthouse was built.
“A cylindrical cast-iron structure, 51 feet high and similar to the caisson type towers at Conimicut, Hog Island Shoal, Plum Beach and Sakonnet, it was the last traditional lighthouse to be built in Rhode Island,” the 1987 form says.
According to the document, the property’s residence was built in 1889 after the first keeper’s quarters fell into a disrepair.
The auction listing states the single-family dwelling features a basement and the property also includes a detached garage and a storage shed. The lighthouse includes a “modern beacon” and is considered an active ATON, or “Aids to Navigation.”
If the winning bidder has ideas for what’s next for the property, they should include the lighthouse. In a statement to the Globe on Friday, a GSA spokesperson said the US Coast Guard “will reserve access to the property for the purposes of maintaining the ATON after conveyance.”
The Warwick Neck lighthouse was among the last in the state to become automated: As of 1987, it was one of only two that was still staffed by a resident keeper.
This story has been updated to include comment from a GSA spokesperson.
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