The 21st day of the sixth month of the year of the OP

THE CAPE HENRY AND CHARLES LIGHTHOUSES
Chesapeake Bay & Atlantic Ocean
Fort Story, Virginia Beach, Virginia


Capes Henry (top photo) and Charles (bottom photo) in Virginia at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay were named after the two sons of King James of England. The first lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay was erected on Cape Henry in 1792 at a cost of $15,200, most likely an outrageous sum for that time. The sandstone tower is 90 feet tall and a local man, Laban Gossigan, became the first keeper.

The Virginia Governor offered President Washington assistance in erecting a tower at the current site. It seems that a certain amount of materials were placed at that location by the state and they would be available for the construction by the Federal government. Blowing and shifting sands had buried the building materials and they had to be replaced. The contract to build the tower was signed by Alexander Hamilton and awarded to an New York brick layer, John McComb, Jr.

During the Civil War the Confederates destroyed the lantern, only to be replaced in 1863. A military guard was placed at the light until the end of the war. By 1872 cracks appeared in the walls and the Lighthouse Board recommended it be replaced. By 1879 construction on the new tower had begun.

The Lighthouse Board ordered the replacement of the tower and the new one was completed in 1881 at a cost of $125,000. Like the Cape Charles light, this southern beacon was fitted with a huge first order Fresnel lens. Not just a bay light, but an offshore sentinel for all shipping entering the bay and as such required the largest of lights. In 1929, this beacon became the first radio-distance-finding station. The light flashes the dot-dot-dash pattern of the letter “U” at 80,000 candlepower.


CAPE CHARLES
Atlantic Ocean
Cape Charles, VA

This skeletal tower is located off shore on Smith Island on Virginia’s lower Eastern Shore. A boat trip is the only way to reach this light that marks the northern entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. The tower is 180 feet above the water and was built in 1894 for an astounding sum of $150,000, a small fortune for that time. This is the third light at this location, the first was built in 1828, and the second in 1864.