When was the assateague lighthouse built

The Assateague Lighthouse has warned passing ships and local waterman of the shallow waters off Assateague for many years. Approximately 1, people traveled through this historic lighthouse at Assateague Island during Wildlife Refuge Week and visitors continually visit this special part of Virginia to see the lighthouse.

The National Wildlife Refuge at Assateague is an excellent place for birdwatching and outdoor activities after you visit the lighthouse.

The Wildlife Refuge provides a great place to learn about history and increase understanding of the ever changing environment. When the Assateague lighthouse was first built, it was on the southern most end of Assateague Island.

The land now south of the lighthouse is actually new land, that has grown out about 2 miles since the lighthouse was first built. Assateague Island National Seashore. It requires about 15 hours a week in order to keep the batteries charged for the light to operate well. The oil house is made of brick, size 14 feet x 18 feet and located about 4 feet east of the tower.

The batteries are charged and other supplies are kept here. Each section included a pantry, kitchen, dining room, living room, three bedrooms, bathroom, and large closet; porches were on both sides of the house. For operating hours and admission prices, as well as other information, go to the Assateague Lighthouse website or call Children age must be accompanied by an adult. All proceeds will help fund the restoration, preservation, and operation of the lighthouse.

Take U. When you get to Chincoteague Island, go straight on Maddox Blvd. From V. Waters — , Thomas H. Silverthorn — , Thomas L. Vane — , John L. Anderton — , Samuel E. Quillin — , Walter J. As coastal commerce blossomed, shipwrecks piled up on the many shoals that plagued the coasts of Delaware and Virginia. Lighthouse and Keeper's Mansion in Photograph courtesy U. Coast Guard Noah Porter, who hailed from Massachusetts and had built Ocracoke Lighthouse in , was selected for building a forty-five-foot brick tower and brick residence on Assateague Island after having submitted the lowest bid.

Porter started the work in August and was supposed to have the lighthouse finished by January , but the project did not go smoothly. Grant, who was overseeing the construction: I was in hopes this letter would inform you of the completion of the building that has lingered here so long, but, alas, it is not the case.

Porter acted honest the work would have been done long long ago. Porter has tried to cheat and defraud in every possible manner, in measuring the building with his tape line myself at the top and he remained at the bottom and when the line was sent down to him he managed it so as to cut one foot off and then pinch one foot more off in hand in order to deceive me.

As the bridge linking Assateague Island to Chincoteague was not built until , the keepers of the lighthouse were quite isolated, though there was a small village just northeast of the lighthouse.

An inspection report of the lighthouse noted that many bricks had fallen out of the lighthouse and that the tower needed whitewashing. Since the existing lighthouse could not be improved, the Lighthouse Board requested funds for a foot-tall, first-order lighthouse. The old Assateague Lighthouse remained lit for most of the war, as the residents of Chincoteague and Assateague Islands voted to 2 to remain with the Union.

When the Lighthouse Board prepared to resume work on the new lighthouse in , it quickly realized that additional money was needed due to an increase in the price of materials and labor. By December 13, when work was suspended for the winter, the brick tower stood ninety-five feet tall. Built of red brick, the conical tower tapers from a diameter of twenty-eight feet at its base to eighteen feet at is lantern room. Of all the lighthouses in Virginia, only the daymark at New Cape Henry, with its stark alternating black and white rectangles, rivals Assateague for panache.

The tower and accompanying one-story, rectangular entrance are built on a twelve-foot-deep stone and concrete foundation. On these landings, four north-facing and three south-facing windows light the interior. In , the area around the tower and dwelling was graded and , square feet of marsh sod was laid to keep the sandy soil from being blown away. After these improvements, the station was quite attractive, with the dwelling surrounded by blooming forsythia bushes and daffodils in spring, and white and purple lilacs in the summer.

At three a. When the second lieutenant piloting the Despatch spotted what he thought was the light from Winter Quarter Shoals Lightship, he ordered the vessel to be put closer to land, but this proved disastrous when the light turned out to be Assateague Lighthouse. The bottom diameter of the lighthouse is twenty-seven feet.

The tower is one hundred forty-two feet tall, but it sits one hundred fifty-four feet above the ocean. It has two lights that create a flash as they rotate, and the light can shine as far as nineteen miles away. An interesting fact is that the lighthouse was originally built at the bottom of Assateague Island.