Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses

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What is a screwpile? Screwpiles—the lesser-known, cottage variety of lighthouses—valiantly served mariners, keeping them safe in their travels along our coastal rivers and bays for a century, from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Although not as celebrated—or romanticized—as the tall, masonry tower lighthouses perched on rocky cliffs overlooking the sea, screwpile lighthouses had a charm—and a fascination—all their own. Screwpile lighthouses were square, hexagonal, or even octagonal cottages mounted on platforms in coastal rivers and bays. The platforms rested firmly on wood, ironclad wood, or iron pilings augured like a screw and driven deep into the river and bay beds. Sitting solidly on their spindly looking foundations, screwpile lighthouses dotted the bays and rivers leading to the coast. The screwpiles’ low cost and ability to anchor in river and bay bottoms contributed to their popularity in numerous settings, including tidal Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, during the 1800s and early 1900s. Equipped with a light beacon and a fog bell, they were navigational aids that saved countless boats and mariners from a bad end on shoals and shallows. The cottages, however, were also home to a rugged breed of men—and women—who devoted their lives to tending the light and, occasionally, risked their lives to save mariners in distress. The screwpiles and their stories were immediately intriguing to us—us being an educator/foundation chairman, a photographer, a writer, and a financial services representative whose penchant for model building inspired this book. Larry Saint’s intricately detailed model of the Nansemond River screwpile lighthouse was the catalyst that encouraged the four of us to learn more about these little-known beacons. The more we learned about the screwpile lighthouses and those who staffed them, the more we knew it was time to share it all by combining our talents in Screwpiles: The Forgotten Lighthouses . We were fortunate to have found and interviewed descendants of lightkeepers as well as a single surviving lightkeeper. Their stories bring color and life to the historic accounts we’ve uncovered in a wide variety of places. As in much historic research, the facts are shaded by the perception of those who experienced the happenings, making the story of the screwpiles that much more interesting. Enjoy the history, technology, legends, and lore associated with the lighthouses. These are the screwpiles we’ve grown to know and love—and we hope you do, too!

Nansemond River Light 1878–1935 The Nansemond River Light was a hexagonal river lighthouse built in 1878 to guide river traffic into the Nansemond River towards Suffolk, Virginia. It was located at the confluence of the James and Nansemond Rivers south of the present-day Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel. It was replaced in 1935 with a steel tower and automated light built on the old screwpile foundation.

Larry Saint, researcher, model builder, and writer Karla Smith, educator, researcher, artist, and writer John H. Sheally II, photographer, editor Phyllis Speidell, writer, editor

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