Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses

On April 19, 1877, Mr. Babcock, engineer for the Fifth District, submitted his final recommendation for the position for the lighthouse. Five acres were titled to the United States and approved by the attorney general on September 28, 1877. Lazaretto workshops in Maryland completed the house by the end of March 1878. Some of the metalwork required for the foundation came from the old Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse. The tender Tulip towed a barge with all the materials to the site where piles were being driven for the working platform. After the foundation piles were completed on July 22 and the house was fitted on top of the foundation, interior work was completed and the cupola, lens, and lamp were installed.

The light first shone on November 1, 1878. It was an oil lamp, with a sixth-order Fresnel lens showing a fixed red light created by using a red lamp chimney. Why a fixed red light? Inspector Baker, in his 1876 survey, said there were so many workboats on the river that a red light was preferred because it could be clearly distinguished from all the other lights on the river.

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