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Lighthouses and lookouts may serve different purposes
in the commonwealth, but they have one thing in common:
their numbers are shrinking. In the case of lighthouses,
several Virginia beacons have been auctioned to private
bidders on eBay when nonprofit groups couldn’t come
up with enough funds to restore them.
Of the 1,500 lighthouses left in the world, Virginia claims
11 historic structures, nine of which still operate. They
include lighthouses on the Atlantic coast, along the Chesapeake
Bay and at the mouth of the Potomac River.
One of the oldest lighthouses in the country is the Old
Cape Henry Lighthouse, built in 1792. Its 90-foot-tall
sandstone tower stands on the grounds of Fort Story on
Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach. Its first keeper, Laban
Goffigan, was appointed by George Washington. He lit fish-oil
burning lamps to keep the Chesapeake Bay safe for seafarers.
During the Civil War, Confederate troops purposely damaged
the light to make navigation harder for Union troops.
By 1870 large cracks had appeared and a new structure
was deemed necessary. Today, the original structure is
maintained by the Association
for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. It’s
open to the public and every December the U.S. Army decorates
it like a large Christmas tree.
The “new” Cape
Henry Lighthouse, built in 1881, stands 357 feet away
from its predecessor. At 164 feet, it is the tallest cast-iron
lighthouse in the United States. During World War II,
the top was used as a battery commander station and contained
two 16-inch howitzers to ward off German attacks. It remains
active and is operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. (Lighthouses
in Virginia.)
The Assateague
Lighthouse, first built in 1833 and rebuilt in 1867,
is also an active lighthouse. Since 2004, it has been
owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and wildlife
refuge staff live in the original two-story lighthouse
keeper’s house.
Lighthouse keepers have been essentially obsolete since
the beginning of the 20th century when a Swedish inventor,
Gustav Dahlén, invented automated lighthouses.
However, some keepers remain to serve as rescue services.
The Old
Point Comfort Lighthouse, located at Fort Monroe in
Hampton, still houses a keeper. The 54-foot structure,
commissioned by Thomas Jefferson, was built in 1802 and
is the second oldest on the Chesapeake Bay. As with other
lighthouses, it became important during America’s
various wars. It was used as a watch tower in the War
of 1812, and naval guns riddled it with bullets during
the Civil War.
The New
Point Comfort Lighthouse, built two years later, is
63 feet tall. It also was disabled during the Civil War
by Confederate troops. It was then repaired, but by 1919
had been partially automated and there was no longer a
need for a keeper. The island on which it stands has been
owned by the Nature Conservancy since 1979.
Perhaps the lighthouses with the most interesting fates
are those that were recently bought at auction. The Smith
Point Lighthouse, located in the Chesapeake off the
mouth of the Potomac, went for $170,000 on eBay to Dave
and Teri McNally of Winona, Minn. McNally, who owns a
construction business, plans to remodel the lighthouse
into a vacation home. (“The Lure of a Lighthouse:
Minnesota Couple Buy Chesapeake Bay Landmark Tower in
an Online Auction,” The Washington Post, January
8, 2006.)
Robert Gonsoulin bought the Newport
News Middle Ground Lighthouse at auction in October
2005 after two nonprofit groups submitted applications
to buy it under the National
Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act but were turned
down. Gonsoulin, who plans to make the lighthouse a retreat
for his family, had spent $30,000 to restore the structure
by mid-2006. (Virginia
Lighthouses.)
Both the Smith Point and New News Middle Ground lights
are still active and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Only the houses are in private hands.
Lookouts, fire towers, watch towers – whatever you
might call them – are also a dying breed. According
to the Forest Fire
Lookout Association, there are only 50 remaining fire
towers in Virginia out of 115 that existed at one time.
For example, only three of 24 fire towers remain in the
George Washington National Forest about 150 miles west
of Washington, D.C.
One of them is Elliott
Knob Lookout, located on one of the highest points
in northern Virginia. The 30-foot tower sits at an elevation
of 4,421 feet. It’s a 14-foot by 14-foot live-in
metal cab, built in 1948 to replace one built in the 1920s.
Another is High
Knob Lookout, which sits at 4,050 feet. It’s
a 20-foot stone tower with a wooden catwalk and cab. It
was built in 1939-1940 by World War I veterans and the
Civilian
Conservation Corps.
Other towers are operated by the Virginia Department of
Forestry, which oversees Virginia’s 17 state forests.
The Bull
Mountain Lookout may be one of the only fire towers
in the country that honors a governor. Located in Patrick
County, it is dedicated to Governor Gerald L. Baliles,
who grew up near it and is said to have “visited
it often.”
While fire towers may not have the same allure as their
lighthouse brethren and don’t show up at auction,
both are symbols of simpler times in the Old Dominion.
November 20, 2006
(Got a question? Check out Ask
a Librarian Live.)
Nice & Curious
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Last Modified:
Friday, June 27, 2008
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