The Ninth of the Eighth

A favorite destination.

Where else but Assateague Island in Virginia.  For many years I would make the three hour ride from my Maryland Eastern Shore home,  even for day trips just to photograph the natural surroundings, wildlife and wild ponies.  It's a barrier island just East of Chincoteague and has one of the best beaches on the east coast.

But of course there is also a lighthouse on the island.  Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse near the Maryland/Virginia border in 1831.  The proposed light was to be about half way between the Delaware and Chesapeake bays and designed to warn ships away from the barrier islands and the shoals that ran offshore from them.  Built in 1833, the light itself proved too weak to accomplish the purpose, but nothing was done until the late 1850’s. The Lighthouse Board concentrated efforts in the late 1850’s to upgrade the southern coastal lighthouses and correct existing deficiencies.  The Assateague Island lighthouse was upgraded as a result of those efforts.  The Civil War intervened however, and repairs were not completed until October 1867.  Improvements were made with the addition of a huge first order Fresnel lens, which made the light visible up to 19 miles at sea.

This is an image made sometime in the 1950's and used on one of the many postcards sold at the gift shops throughout the island.  By 1966, the light hadn't changed too much.

By the late 1980's the light had been painted and I started photographing the tower in the red and white paint job.  The new paint made the whole thing stand out as a unique day mark along the shore.

The Island of Chincoteague is blessed with the normal tourist trap type places, but the best restaurant in my estimation is the Village.  I can almost taste the oysters now.  The place is still small town beach community but there are now big chain motels to be had.  The place still, however, retains it's identity despite a robust vacation crowd.