Virginia - Old Cape Henry Lighthouse

The Old Cape Henry Lighthouse is located at the south entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The Fort Story, VA, Military Reservation encompasses the lighthouse grounds. This lighthouse is an octangular truncated pyramid of eight sides, rising 90-feet from the ground. It sits on a hill approximately 650 yards from the beach.

The lighthouse was built of sandstone which came from the same Virginia quarries that provided material for Mount Vernon, the U.S. Capital Building, and the White House. The original staircase was built of wood but after several years it became oil soaked, a fire hazard, and deteriorated. It was replaced by a cast-iron spiral staircase. Light projection for the lantern room was originally provided by a series of lamps strategically placed in the room. Those were eventually replaced by a second-order Fresnel lens. Years later, due to vertical cracks in the walls and fear the lighthouse would fall into the sea, it was closed in 1881 after construction of a new Cape Henry Lighthouse.

Obviously, the old lighthouse never fell, and in 1930 Congress transferred deed of the old tower and 1.77 acres of land to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. At the time of my visit here in 2000, the lighthouse was open to the public and received approximately 60,000 visitors annually.