Assateague Lighthouse Va

The lighthouse on Assateague Island with the moon and a flight of comorants sliding by. Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse near the... more

by Skip Willits

Title

Assateague Lighthouse Va

Artist

Skip Willits

Medium

Photograph - Epson Lustre Paper

Description

The lighthouse on Assateague Island with the moon and a flight of comorants sliding by. Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse near the Maryland/Virginia border in 1831. The proposed light was to be about half way between the Delaware and Chesapeake bays and designed to warn ships away from the barrier islands and the shoals that ran offshore from them. Built in 1833, the light itself proved too weak to accomplish the purpose, but nothing was done until the late 1850�s.

The Lighthouse Board concentrated efforts in the late 1850�s to upgrade the southern coastal lighthouses and correct existing deficiencies. The Assateague Island lighthouse was upgraded as a result of those efforts. The Civil War intervened however, and repairs were not completed until October 1867. Improvements were made with the addition of a huge first order Fresnel lens, which made the light visible up to 19 miles at sea.

The lighthouse can be viewed daily at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge offers a multitude of opportunities to view wildlife in its natural habitat, the lighthouse, as well as public access to the beach.

Uploaded

March 29th, 2011