Cape Henry Lighthouse

Cape Henry Lighthouse is an octagonal tower of hewn, hammer-dressed sandstone standing on a steep, vegetated dune at Fort Story in Virginia Beach. The walls are six feet thick, and the tower measures twenty-six feet across at the base and sixteen and one-half feet at the top, seventy-two feet above the base. Its oil lamps were first lit in October 1792, and the light served for 89 years until a new lighthouse replaced it in December 1881. The old tower then remained a daymark and a point for coast survey triangulation. It matters because Chesapeake Bay shipping went without a lighthouse for decades, held up by disputes among colonial assemblies, British authorities and merchants. Once the Federal Government was established, construction began almost immediately, making this the first lighthouse authorized and fully built by the new government. Wind erosion once threatened the foundations, and repairs followed the 1930 transfer of the tower and 1.77 acres to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. Visitors can climb to the observation platform for a view of the Chesapeake.