Cape Henry Lights
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Just north of Virginia Beach, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, both the old
and newer Cape Henry Lights stand within the grounds of Fort Story.
Contruction of the original light began in 1774,
but was interrupted by the Revolution. The tower was completed in 1792.
In the 1870's, cracks began to appear in the sandstone of the original light,
so a second tower was
erected -- this time of cast iron. In 1881 the first-order fresnel lense of
the new Cape Henry Light
was turned on, and it is still active today.
