At Beavertail, fog signaling evolved through an unusual succession of devices. In 1829, Congress appropriated $1,250 for a 600-pound fog bell, replacing the keeper’s earlier practice of firing a cannon on foggy nights, and that same year a fog bell house was built beside the tower. Beavertail probably saw more types of fog signals than any other New England lighthouse, and in 1851 an air fog trumpet powered by a horse driving a 10-foot wheel was added. More innovations followed, with Beavertail often among the first places to test new devices. After the Great Hurricane of 1938 destroyed the fog signal building, the Coast Guard erected the present structure in 1939 with air-modulated fog signal equipment, an emergency generator, an air compressor, and compressed-air storage tanks. Two large diaphone trumpets projected from the south side and sounded a two-tone warning, first high and then a low-frequency grunt. In 1962, a siren compressor replaced the diaphones, and in 1971 the building’s role ended when an automatic electronic fog signal was installed across the road.