Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses

The 1931 chart includes surveys taken from 1911 through 1930.

There are now many more buoys and post lanterns. The chart also shows several dredged channels. Dutch Gap Canal Light has been automated. For the ship captain, the additional buoys and post lanterns make the trip to Richmond safer, but the number of turns required still makes the voyage a challenge.

By 1934, the Turkey Island Cutoff had been added, dredged to 26 feet. That saved an additional six miles of river travel.

Many post lanterns were added on the approach to Richmond.

The Aiken Swamp Cutoff was added at Dutch Gap Canal, reducing the river’s length by an additional one and a half miles.

152