{"nrhp_refnum":"73002037","name":"New Point Comfort Lighthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Chesapeake Bay and Mobjack Bay","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Point","county":"Mathews County","state":"VA","lat":37.30108605700008,"lon":-76.27769711599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A tapered octagonal sandstone lighthouse on a tiny rubble island at the southernmost tip of Mathews County, Virginia, where Mobjack Bay meets the Chesapeake Bay. It was completed by 1805 and first used in 1806.","why_significant":"The tower is an architecturally notable early federal lighthouse, similar to the 1802 Old Point Comfort Light and containing a stone spiral stair. It marked a long-standing navigational hazard at the entrance to Mobjack Bay. Its history includes the 1801 Congressional act, construction by Elzy Burroughs, and service until the Coast Guard discontinued it in 1963.","narrative":"New Point Comfort Lighthouse is an octagonal sandstone tower on a small granite rubble island at the southern tip of Mathews County, Virginia. The island, now about one-third of an acre, was once part of a peninsula joined to the mainland before erosion cut it off. Congress authorized a permanent light here in 1801 because the point and its shoals threatened ships entering Mobjack Bay. Elzy Burroughs of Mathews County built the tower and a dwelling under a 1802 contract for $8,750. The light was finished by 1805 and first used in 1806. Inside, a stone spiral stair, comparable to the one at the 1802 Old Point Comfort Light, winds up to the lantern. An automatic light replaced the old mechanism in 1930, and a new offshore light took over in 1963. The abandoned tower has since suffered neglect and vandalism, though its masonry remains sound and it still serves as a daytime landmark for boaters.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Elzy Burroughs of Mathews County (builder under contract with the Federal Government)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Abandoned as an operating Coast Guard facility after 1963; neglected and vandalized, with windows boarded and the lantern glass broken, but the stonework is in good condition and the structure is generally sound. The keeper's house disappeared before 1963.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.644448-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/6818/41681891/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/73002037.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002037/69348ffab6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002037/69348ffab6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Coastalsteve984","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewPointComfortLighthouse_Aerial_Oct_2016.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Coastalsteve984</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:NewPointComfortLighthouse_Aerial_Oct_2016.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681891","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Point_Comfort_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7011017"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/mathews-county/new-point-comfort-lighthouse-73002037/"}