Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia Beach Virginia

Date added: February 10, 2025

Categories:
Virginia
Lighthouse

From U.S. 60, looking northwest to Cape Henry Lighthouse (1974)

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Cape Henry Lighthouse was the first structure authorized and completed by the newly organized Federal Government in 1789.

Cape Henry Lighthouse is an octagonal sandstone structure, faced with hewn and hammer-dressed stone; it is the third oldest lighthouse in America, having been completed in 1792.

From early colonial times, Chesapeake Bay had boasted a substantial volume of shipping. For decades, however, efforts at gaining the benefits of a lighthouse were unsuccessful. The division of the Bay between Virginia and Maryland made unified action difficult; the comparative regularity of the Virginia coast made the need for a lighthouse seem less pressing; and there was difficulty in reaching an agreement among all the many interested, and often conflicting, parties; the Virginia and Maryland Assemblies, the British Government, Lord Baltimore, and British mercantile interests. The lighthouse was not erected until the establishment of the U.S. Federal Government. Then it became the first whose authorization and complete construction were undertaken.

The oil-burning lamps of the Cape Henry Lighthouse were first lit in October 1792. The light at Cape Henry shone with great dependability for 89 years, until it was replaced by a new lighthouse some 350 feet southeast of the original one in December of 1881.

After the new light was put into operation, the old tower remained a day-mark and a basis for coast survey triangulation. On April 26^th, 1896 the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities placed a tablet on it marking the first landing of English colonists on Virginia soil. The old tower thus became a forerunner of the Cape Henry Memorial.

Site Description

Cape Henry Lighthouse is an octagonal sandstone structure, faced with hewn and hammer-dressed stone. The diameter is twenty-six feet at the lighthouse base and sixteen and one-half feet at its top, seventy-two feet above the base, where the walls are six feet thick. A small, glass-encased observation platform caps the tower walls. The lighthouse is situated on top of a small, steep sand dune, covered with low, dense vegetation. The height of the dune equals that of the lighthouse.

Wind erosion at one time threatened to undermine the lighthouse foundations, but the necessary repairs were made following the acquisition of the lighthouse in 1930 by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA). Brick lining and an iron stairway have been added to the interior.

Today the lighthouse is open to the public on an unlimited basis by the APVA a fine view of the Chesapeake can be enjoyed from its observation platform.

The original land grant by the Virginia Assembly to the Federal Government in 1789 was for "not more than two acres." Somehow, the lighthouse was built only partially on the land provided. This situation was finally rectified in 1881, when additional land was furnished. In 1930 the old tower and 1.77 acres of surrounding land were transferred to the APVA.