Cape Charles Light

Cape Charles Light

Cape Charles Light in 1995 (Ralph Eshelman/NPS)
Location Smith Island off Cape Charles at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay
Coordinates 37°07′23″N 75°54′23″W / 37.12292°N 75.90647°WCoordinates: 37°07′23″N 75°54′23″W / 37.12292°N 75.90647°W
Year first constructed 1828
Year first lit 1895
Automated 1963
Construction cast iron skeleton tower
Tower shape Octagonal pyramidal skeleton
Markings / pattern lantern and watchroom, black
tower, white
Height 191 feet (58 m)
Focal height 180 feet (55 m)
Original lens First order Fresnel lens
Current lens Vega VRB-25 solar-powered beacon
Range 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi)
Characteristic Flashing white, 5 sec
Admiralty number J1404
ARLHS number USA-109
USCG number

2-350 [1] [2] [3]

Cape Charles Light Station
Nearest city Kiptopke, Virginia
Area 10 acres (4.0 ha)
Built 1894
Governing body Federal
MPS Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP Reference # 03000569[4]
VLR # 065-0071
Significant dates
Added to NRHP June 23, 2003
Designated VLR December 4, 2002[5]

The current Cape Charles Light is a steel skeleton tower lighthouse at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on Smith Island. It is the tallest lighthouse in Virginia and the second tallest in the United States.[3] This particular tower is the third lighthouse at this location. The first lighthouse at Cape Charles was a 55-foot (17 m) masonry tower completed in 1828. It was quickly deemed inadequate for its important seacoast location due to its low height and poor visibility at sea. It was soon threatened by erosion so in 1864 it was replaced by a 150-foot (46 m) masonry tower built further inland. By the 1890s, it too was threatened by beach erosion which jetties built to protect it failed to halt, so a third lighthouse, a 191-foot (58 m) steel skeleton structure was erected in 1895. This tower originally housed a first order Fresnel Lens which was replaced by a more powerful airport beacon in the 1960s. The original lens from the Cape Charles lighthouse is on display at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia.

Notes

  1. ↑ Light List, Volume II, Atlantic Coast, Shrewsbury River, New Jersey to Little River, South Carolina (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012. p. 3.
  2. ↑ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Virginia". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Virginia". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  4. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
  5. ↑ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 5 June 2013.

References