Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses

Discontinuance of Nansemond River Lighthouse and Other Lights With his May 25, 1933, recommendation, L. M. Hopkins, superintendent of lighthouses, initiated the process for automating the Nansemond River Lighthouse. He proposed changing the illuminant from oil to acetylene, discontinuing the fog signal, and discontinuing the service of the lightkeeper and assistant. The reduction in salary saved $3,420 annually. When the change was approved on June 2, work began immediately. The sixth-order lens continued to be used, but the light characteristic changed from fixed red to flashing white. The foundation and lighthouse remained in place until rapid deterioration of the wooden structure forced the bureau to raze the wooden structure and replace it with a structural-steel-pipe tower, using the existing iron-pile foundation. That work was completed on February 25, 1935. During World War I and World War II, the Nansemond Ordnance Depot, originally the Pig Point Ordnance Depot circa 1917–1918, was an important munitions storage and shipping site and greatly increased river activity. In 1941, the heavier river traffic prompted dredging a new channel with a turning basin. Plans for new buoyage included a lighted bell buoy, but a third-class special can buoy was installed in 1942 instead for security purposes. The structural-steel tower at the original Nansemond River Lighthouse location remained in place after the war, and the flashing white light continued until 1974. Replacement of Point of Shoals and White Shoal Lighthouses Both lighthouses sat at the edge of the natural deepwater channel that followed the contour of Burwells Bay. Another channel, known as the Swash Channel, was a more direct route up the river, but it was riddled with shallow spots that created a hazard for deep draft vessels navigating through it. New channels dredged in the early 1930s alleviated that problem by moving the main deepwater channel about two miles north. The new channel went directly from Deep Water Shoals to City Point in Newport News, eliminating the need for the lighthouses at White Shoal and Point of Shoals. In a report dated December 21, 1932, Superintendent of Lighthouses L. M. Hopkins recommended discontinuing White Shoal Light Station. He proposed abandoning the light station, razing the superstructure, and establishing new buoys to mark the new channel. At the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy used the site for demobilization and destruction of explosives, ammunition, and chemicals.

The actual change occurred June 1, 1933, when the keeper at White Shoal, J. R. Edwards, retired and the assistant keeper transferred to Shark Fin Shoal Lighthouse, a screwpile lighthouse at the mouth of the Nanticoke River in Maryland. White Shoal Lighthouse remained in place, however, although the U.S. Coast Guard abandoned the structure and removed everything of value. A citizen tried to purchase both the Point of Shoals and White Shoal sites in 1934, but no record exists of the outcome, and contemporary reports indicate its continued abandonment into the 1960s. The foundation is still in place, although ice swept the house away in January 1977 during a severe winter. Point of Shoals Lighthouse met decommissioning at the same time as White Shoal. In a report dated March 10, 1931, T. S. Johnson, assistant superintendent, recommended new buoyage on the new Mulberry Island dredged channel, changing the buoys on the Rocklanding Shoal Channel and replacing Point of Shoals Light. The wooden structure was razed in 1932 and a standard pipe tower was erected in its place with a 300mm acetylene lantern. Deep Water Shoals Lighthouse Continued While the other James River lighthouses closed, Deep Water Shoals Light operated through World War II until 1957, remaining as a fixed white light with a red sector added in 1927. Buoys replaced the light in 1957. The foundation structure remains in place, although the cottage was razed. Razing a Light . . . What Did That Mean? In most cases, the U.S. Coast Guard removed everything of value when it discontinued a cottage lighthouse and then hired marine contractors to do the demolition. In many cases, the contractor simply floated a barge to the lighthouse, tore down the wooden structure, and burned it in the barge. The screwpile foundation was removed if it was practical, but it was often left in place and marked on the charts. All three James River screwpile lighthouses met that fate with their 1870 foundations remaining as the only reminder of a lost era. In other cases, the abandoned lighthouse fell victim to the weather and vandals. A very few of the screwpile lighthouses survived, thanks to the efforts of people who saw the value of remembering a storied, heroic era of coastal history.

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