Photo courtesy U.S Coast Guard (1884 lighthouse). The first permanent lightship station in the United States was anchored in 1820 in the lower Chesapeake Bay on the west side of the channel near the mouth of the Elizabeth River to guide vessels approaching Norfolk & Portsmouth harbors. This lightship was …
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The original request to build a small, screwpile lighthouse to mark the entrance to Cherrystone Harbor was in 1853. Congress later appropriated $10,000 on August 3, 1854. Cherrystone Bar Lighthouse was completed and first lighted on January 1, 1858. It was a white, hexagonal screwpile lighthouse built just south of Cape Charles, Virginia. The light …
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Bowlers Rock Lighthouse was built in 1868 on the Rappahannock River 30 miles upriver from the Chesapeake Bay between Bowlers Landing and Suggetts Point in Virginia. It was the only lighthouse built in or on the Rappahannock River. Prior to the lighthouse, two lightships were stationed in the upper part of the river approximately 8-1/2 miles …
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In the 1800s, the dock at West Point was a major terminal for the Richmond & York River Railroad, which resulted in an increase of traffic on the York River. This led to the appropriation of $35,000 to build a lighthouse to aid in guiding the ships to the railroad dock. The lighthouse was built …
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Back River Lighthouse was built in 1829 by Winslow Lewis of Boston at a cost $3,500 plus an additional $750 for his own lamps. It was constructed on four acres of land six miles north of Old Point Comfort between the Back-River entrance and the Grandview area of the City of Hampton, Virginia. It was …
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First established in 1822 (discontinued in 1855) the Bodkin Point Lighthouse would have been visible from the North Overlook in the distance. It has long since crumbled and what remains of the lighthouse and the island on which it stood now show only as a ‘navigational hazard’ on present-day maps. In August 1820, six …
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