Cape Henlopen Beacon

Cape Henlopen Beacon
	Cape Henlopen Beacon in 1863 (USLHS/Archives)
Location	Cape Henlopen, Delaware
Coordinates	38°47′25″N75°4′50″W / 38.79028°N 75.08056°W
Tower
Constructed	1825 (first tower); 1864 (second tower)
Construction	stone (first); iron/wood (second)
Height	45 feet (14 m)
Shape	conical tower (first); house on iron frame (second)
Light
Deactivated	1884
Lens	reflector array/; fourth order Fresnel lens

Last updated August 21, 2023

The Cape Henlopen Beacon was a lighthouse built to mark the point of the cape, supplementing Cape Henlopen Light just to the south. It was decommissioned in 1884 and demolished.

History

Cape Henlopen in historic times has been gradually extending to the northwest, so that the original lighthouse, Cape Henlopen Light, eventually was at a sufficient distance from the end of land to be ineffectual for marking the point.^[2] Therefore, in 1825, the Cape Henlopen Beacon was built as an auxiliary about a mile north of the older light. The Henlopen Beacon was a typical conical tower with an array of reflectors and oil lamps for the beacon. This light did not receive its own keeper's house until 1854, being maintained instead by the keeper of its neighbor to the south.^[3] This required the keeper to make multiple one mile journeys throughout the night. At the same time the keeper's house was constructed, the reflectors were replaced with a fourth order Fresnel lens. In 1864 the decrepit tower and house were replaced with a screw-pile structure, though unusually for the type it still sat entirely on land, at least at first.^[2]^[3] In 1875 a fog signal was added in a separate building.^[3]

The cape continued to move, and by the end of 1884 the ocean was lapping at the piles of the light, seriously threatening its existence.^[3] The lighthouse board decided against saving or moving the light, and in October of that year the light was discontinued and taken down, though the fog signal was maintained for another year until the signal at the Delaware Breakwater East End Light (which had been lit the previous year) was operational.^[2]^[3]

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References

↑ List of Light-houses, Lighted Beacons, and Floating Lights of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts of the United States. Treasury Department. January 1, 1868. pp. 24–25. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
1 2 3 "Delaware Breakwater Light". LighthouseFriends. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
1 2 3 4 5 Trapani, Bob (2007). "Cape Henlopen Beacon Light Station". Delaware Lights: A History of Lighthouses in the First State. History Press. pp. 21–26. ISBN 9781596290211 . Retrieved 2014-01-23.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

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[ll.1868-1] List of Light-houses, Lighted Beacons, and Floating Lights of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts of the United States. Treasury Department. January 1, 1868. pp. 24–25. Retrieved 2014-01-23.

[LHF.bwater-2] 1 2 3 "Delaware Breakwater Light". LighthouseFriends. Retrieved 2014-01-23.

[trapani-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Trapani, Bob (2007). "Cape Henlopen Beacon Light Station". Delaware Lights: A History of Lighthouses in the First State. History Press. pp. 21–26. ISBN 9781596290211 . Retrieved 2014-01-23.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

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v t e Lighthouses of Delaware
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Baker Shoal Range Front Light Baker Shoal Range Rear Light Bellevue Range Rear Light Cape Henlopen Beacon Cape Henlopen Light Cherry Island Range Rear Light Christiana Light Christiana North Jetty Light Delaware Breakwater East End Light Delaware Breakwater Range Front Light Delaware Breakwater Range Rear Light Fenwick Island Light Fourteen Foot Bank Light Harbor of Refuge Light Liston Range Front Light Liston Range Rear Light Mahon River Light Marcus Hook Range Front Light Marcus Hook Range Rear Light Mispillion Light New Castle Range Front Light New Castle Range Rear Light Reedy Island Range Rear Light