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The new Cape Henry lighthouse (1881) overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay |
The first lighthouse built by the new United States government in 1792 today beckons visitors to the shores of Cape Henry in north Virginia Beach. It is here, at the junction of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, where the first settlers landed on their way to founding Jamestown in 1607. And it is here that a crucial battle in the Revolutionary War was fought.
The Cape Henry lighthouses – there are two of them, the second one built in 1881 – are located on the Fort Story army base and are accessible to the public. Visitors must first pass through a security gate to be admitted to the historic grounds where the two lighthouses, a memorial cross, and a statue of Admiral Comte deGrasse describe the site’s importance to the birth of a nation.
Cape Henry lighthouses
Virginia deeded the site to the new federal government in 1789 specifically for building a lighthouse, and George Washington and Alexander Hamilton both played a role. Hamilton arranged the contract for the stone octagonal structure along with a keeper’s residence, and Washington ordered the applications for the lighthouse’s first keeper.
Confederate troops intentionally damaged Cape Henry’s lighthouse during the Civil War; Union troops repaired it. An inspection report in 1872 recommended the lighthouse be closed. It wasn’t until 1881 that the new black and white checkered lighthouse was built. Today the original lighthouse is a registered National Historic Landmark managed by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
Memorials
A granite cross on Cape Henry memorializes the landing spot of the early English settlers, who planted a wooden cross in thanks for their safe passage across the ocean. Nearby is a statute of the French commander who engaged the British in the Battle of the Capes, blocking them from Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown which helped end the American Revolution. A three-way interpretative panel pulls together the lighthouses, the landing and the battle for visitors.
Fort Story is located at 583 Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach. The lighthouses are open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the end of October, and from 10 to 4 between November 1 and March 15. The site is closed for the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children 3-12.
