{"nrhp_refnum":"73001989","name":"Assateague Lighthouse","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"S of Chincoteague at S end of Assateague Island","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chincoteague","county":"Accomack County","state":"VA","lat":37.86372590800005,"lon":-75.36798287899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-06-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick lighthouse tower at the southern end of Assateague Island, near Chincoteague in Accomack County, Virginia, completed and first lit on October 1, 1867 and surrounded by the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.","why_significant":"The nomination describes it as a handsome example of mid-nineteenth century lighthouse construction and the only one of that period surviving in Virginia. It replaced an earlier 1833 tower that proved too low and too weak to warn ships of dangerous shoals.","narrative":"Rising from a marshy peninsula at the south end of Assateague Island, this round brick lighthouse stands 129 feet from ground level to light and is now painted in red and white horizontal bands. Its walls are laid in running bond outside and header bond inside, and a cast iron spiral stair winds around a central post marked \"Barbier and Fenestre, Paris, 1866.\" A small brick entrance building and an oil house complete the station. Congress funded a first lighthouse here in 1831, lit by January 1833, but it was too low and its light too weak to guide ships past the shoals. Funds for a replacement came in 1859, construction paused during the Civil War, and the new tower was lit on October 1, 1867, with its stair and light mechanism imported from France. It still serves as a navigational aid and is valued as a fine mid-nineteenth century example, the only one of its period left in Virginia.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1867)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Still maintained as an active nautical aid; the original lamp was replaced by an automatic lantern, and the old lamp is on display at the site. Condition is marked good, and the tower is unaltered on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.985484-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/6792/41679227/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/73001989.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001989/c36ef806b3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001989/c36ef806b3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Acroterion","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Assateague_Light_VA1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Acroterion</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Assateague_Light_VA1.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"15000766","name":"Assateague Beach Coast Guard Station","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/assateague-beach-coast-guard-station-15000766/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679227","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assateague_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4808548"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/accomack-county/assateague-lighthouse-73001989/"}