Stingray Point Light

Stingray Point Light

1928 photograph of Stingray Point Light (USCG)
Location	Mouth of the Rappahannock River north of Deltaville, Virginia
Coordinates	37°33′41″N76°16′12″W / 37.5613°N 76.2700°W / 37.5613; -76.2700
Tower
Constructed	1858
Foundation	screw-pile
Construction	cast-iron/wood
Automated	1965
Height	34 feet (10 m)
Shape	hexagonal house
Light
First lit	1858
Deactivated	1965
Lens	sixth-order Fresnel lens
Range	7.0 nautical miles; 13 kilometres (8 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing 4 sec

The Stingray Point Light was a lighthouse located at the mouth of the Rappahannock River.

History

Stingray Point took its name from an incident in which John Smith was stung by a stingray while fishing nearby. The light was built in 1858 to mark the entrance to the Deltaville harbor, just west of the point. A report from 1865 indicates repairs done after the light "plundered of all movable articles", but it is not indicated whether this reflects Confederate raids (as affected other lighthouses in the area during the Civil War).

The light remained in service until 1965, when the house was removed and a skeleton tower erected on the old foundation. It had just recently been automated. This light remains in service. Sections of dismantled house were sold to one Gilbert Purcell, who owned a boatyard and intended to reconstruct the light on his property. His plans were never realized, but the Stingray Point Marina later constructed a full size replica of the light which still stands.

The replica Stingray Point Lighthouse, located at Stingray Harbor Marina, approximately 1.75 miles west of the original location.

Automated Stingray Point Light in 2025

References

• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Virginia" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
• Stingray Point 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. 154.

External links

• Stingray Point Marina website with pictures of the replica