Bells Rock Light

Bells Rock Light

Undated photograph of Bells Rock Light (USCG)
Location	Two miles downstream from West Point, Virginia on the York River
Coordinates	37°29′02″N76°44′59″W / 37.4839°N 76.7498°W / 37.4839; -76.7498
Tower
Constructed	1881
Foundation	screw-pile
Construction	cast-iron/wood
Automated	1928
Height	40 feet (12 m)
Shape	hexagonal house
Light
First lit	1881
Deactivated	1928
Focal height	12 m (39 ft)
Lens	fourth-order Fresnel lens
Range	4.3 nautical miles; 8.0 kilometres (5 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing 4 sec

The Bells Rock Light was a lighthouse located in the York River in Virginia.

History

In the nineteenth century, West Point, Virginia was the head of navigation on the York River, and this light was requested in order to facilitate navigation there. A house was built for it at Lazaretto Point in 1880, but this was diverted to Thimble Shoal Light when the latter burned down. A second house was constructed and installed on this spot in 1881. Three years later it was struck by a schooner, breaking three of the support columns; these were repaired expeditiously, however, and the light passed the rest of its days uneventfully.

The diminishing of commercial traffic on the river made the light less important, and in 1928 the house was removed and a skeleton tower erected on the iron foundation. This arrangement continues to the present.

References

• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Virginia" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
• Bells Rock Light, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
• de Gast, Robert (1973). The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake . Johns Hopkins University Press. p.  153. ISBN   9780801815485.