{"nrhp_refnum":"73002212","name":"Old Point Comfort Lighthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Fenwick Rd., SW of E gate of Fort Monroe","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hampton (Independent City)","county":"Hampton","state":"VA","lat":37.001793400000054,"lon":-76.30649763699995,"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 ashlar stone lighthouse, forty-seven feet tall, completed in 1802 on the southern edge of Old Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia, beside Fort Monroe. A two-story frame lightkeeper's house of about 1900 stands next to it.","why_significant":"The tower is the lighthouse the federal government built in 1802 to replace an earlier locally run light guiding ships into Hampton Roads. It is in excellent condition and still works as a round-the-clock navigation aid. It stood near the 1862 clash of the ironclads Monitor and Virginia, and its twin at New Point Comfort is abandoned.","narrative":"Guarding the north side of the entrance to Hampton Roads, this octagonal stone lighthouse was completed in 1802 at Old Point Comfort. It rises forty-seven feet and is built of tapered ashlar masonry, with stone moldings at the base and top and a spiral stair whose wedge-shaped steps are keyed into the wall. Regular whitewashing keeps it looking fresh. A two-story frame lightkeeper's house, added around 1900, stands beside it. The site had a light before the tower: after Fort George was destroyed by a hurricane in 1749, caretaker John Dames reportedly operated a guiding light, and the colonial Assembly paid him a salary in 1775. Virginia conveyed land to the federal government in 1798 for a permanent lighthouse. Fort Monroe later rose just behind it, and in 1837 Congress approved money to move the tower inside the fort, though the move never happened. Federal forces held the lighthouse during the Civil War. Its twin at New Point Comfort is abandoned, while this tower remains in excellent condition and in service.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1802)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition; the light still operates as a round-the-clock nautical aid. The form shows the property as public, government-owned and occupied, with preservation work in progress.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.894632-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/6811/41681117/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/73002212.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002212/46728a2227-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002212/46728a2227-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Acroterion","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Point_Comfort_Light_VA2.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:Old_Point_Comfort_Light_VA2.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"66000912","name":"Fort Monroe","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/fort-monroe-66000912/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681117","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Point_Comfort_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084747"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/hampton/old-point-comfort-lighthouse-73002212/"}