Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses

Selected Lighthouses on Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina Waters There were over a hundred s crewpile lighthouses built in the Chesapeake Bay and along the East Coast sounds and rivers between 1855 and 1900. The list below represents just a portion of masonry, screwpile , and caisson beacons built in Maryland, Virginia , and North Carolina.

3 rd Light or Abandonment/ R emoval

MASONRY LIGHTS Conical Masonry Tower

1 st Built

2 nd Light or Replacement

LOCATION and NOTES ** Listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places † Virginia Landmarks Register South entrance to York River , a.k.a. Grandview Light Destroyed by Hurricane Flossy on December 27, 1956 **North entrance to Chesapeake Bay on Smith Island ( o cean side) † **South entrance to Chesapeake Bay from Atlantic Ocean **North entrance Mobjack Bay . Currently maintained by Mathews County and New Point Comfort L ighthouse Preservation Task Force .

1936 – L ight discontinued

Back River , VA

1829

1861 – Damaged by Confederate r aiders 1862 – R epaired

Cape Charles , VA

1828

1864

1895 – (Skeletal)

Cape Henry , VA

1792 1805

1881

New Point Comfort , VA

1919 – Automated

1963 – L ight decommissioned

Old Point Comfort 1802

**Entrance to Hampton Roads at Fort Monroe

SCREWPILE LIGHTS

1 st Built

2 nd Light or Replacement

3 rd Light or Abandonment

After the Civil War , s crewpile c ottages were being prefabricated and shipped by barge from Lazaretto Point , MD

York River near West Point , VA

Bells Rock , VA

1881

Hexagonal s crewpile

1928 – R eplaced by steel tower 1920 – Deactivated and replaced by automatic light 1919 – Replaced by small caisson and skeletal tower 1884 – H exagonal 1936 – Automated 1936 – D ecommissioned 1962 – Deactivated

Bowlers Rock , VA

Two l ightships – 1835 , 1864

1868 – Screwpile lighthouse destroyed by ice in 1918 1861 – Attacked by Confederates 1862 – R eestablished 1859 – D estroyed by Confederates , 1861 1871 – Rebuilt in h exagonal design 1960 – Automated

Rappahannock River between Bowlers Landing and Suggetts Point ; s mall c aisson structure

Cherrystone Bar , VA

South of Cape Charles Harbor , Eastern Shore. The c ottage was s awed in half in 1920 moved to become the Choptank River Light in Maryland . Entrance to Elizabeth River . Light replaced by a buoy i n 1970 . James River , by Mulberry Island on north side of the James River. 1966 – Steel tower light erected on old iron foundation 1975 – Calvert County Historical Society , assisted by B. F. Diamond Construction Company , cut the lighthouse from its pilings and moved it to the current site . ** 2008 – Calvert Marine Museum

1858

Craney Island , VA Lightship – 1820

Deep W ater Shoals , VA

1855 – Square design

Drum Point , MD

1883

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