Location | in the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia four miles ENE of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel |
---|---|
Coordinates | 37°00′53″N76°14′24″W / 37.0146°N 76.2399°W Coordinates: 37°00′53″N76°14′24″W / 37.0146°N 76.2399°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1872 (first light) 1880 (second light) |
Foundation | caisson |
Construction | cast iron/concrete |
Automated | 1964 |
Shape | Cylindrical |
Markings | Red conical tower on brown cylindrical pier |
Heritage | National Register of Historic Places listed place, Virginia Historic Landmark |
Light | |
First lit | 1914 |
Focal height | 55 feet (17 m) |
Lens | fourth order Fresnel lens (original), RB-355 aerobeacon (current) |
Range | 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) |
Characteristic | Flashing white, 10 sec |
Thimble Shoal Light Station | |
Nearest city | Hampton City, Virginia |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1914 |
Built by | U.S. Lighthouse Board |
MPS | Light Stations of the United States MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 02001436 [1] |
VLR No. | 114-0096 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 2, 2002 |
Designated VLR | September 10, 2003 [2] |
Thimble Shoal Light is a sparkplug lighthouse in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay, north of the Hampton Roads channel. [3] [4] [5] The third light at this location, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The first light at this location was a hexagonal screw-pile lighthouse erected in 1872, replacing the last lightship stationed within the bay. It was destroyed by fire in 1880 and replaced in the same year with a new house on the same foundation. This was facilitated by the availability of a newly constructed house originally intended for the Bells Rock Light, so that the light was out of service for only fifty-five days.
The second light was plagued by collisions with passing ships: it was struck by a steamer in 1891, by a coal barge in 1898, and finally by the schooner Malcolm Baxter, Jr., which struck the lighthouse on December 27, 1909 while under tow. This last collision damaged the foundation and overturned the stove in the house, which was destroyed by fire.
A caisson light was placed next to the old site in 1914; in the meantime, a temporary light perched on the remains of the old screw-pile foundation. This light has several unusual features for such lights in the bay area, most notably the diamond-shaped panes in the lantern and the round porthole windows. Unlike its predecessors, it passed time relatively uneventfully, with automation coming in 1964. The broken, skeletal remains of the old foundation remained next to the light until their removal in the 2000s. As with most lights the original Fresnel lens has been removed, replaced by more modern beacons; in this case the lens is displayed at the Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia. Though worn from years of vacancy, it retains most of the canopy over the lower level gallery. In 2005 it was sold at auction to a private interest, but remains an active aid to navigation.
The Seven Foot Knoll Light was built in 1855 and is the oldest screw-pile lighthouse in Maryland. It was located atop Seven Foot Knoll in the Chesapeake Bay until it was replaced by a modern navigational aid and relocated to Baltimore's Inner Harbor as a museum exhibit.
The Thomas Point Shoal Light, also known as Thomas Point Shoal Light Station, is a historic lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay on the east coast of the United States, and the most recognized lighthouse in Maryland. It is the only screw-pile lighthouse in the bay which stands at its original site. The current structure is a 1½ story hexagonal wooden cottage, equipped with a foghorn as well as the light.
The unmanned reef lights of the Florida Keys were navigational aids erected near the Florida Keys between 1921 and 1935. They were intended to mark local hazards and did not need to be visible for as far as the reef lights that were erected near the Keys during the 19th century. By the time the lights in this list were erected, older lighthouses were being automated, and these new lights were designed to be automated from the start. The lights resembled the older reef lights in having a wrought iron skeletal pyramidal structure on a screw-pile foundation. They all originally had lanterns on their peaks, so that they looked like smaller versions of the older reef lights, but had no keeper's quarters.
The Mathias Point Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Potomac River in Maryland; the station was located near the Port Tobacco River. It was particularly noted for its ornate woodwork.
Sandy Point Shoal Light is a brick three story lighthouse on a caisson foundation that was erected in 1883. It lies about 0.6 mi (0.97 km) off Sandy Point, north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, from whose westbound span it is readily visible.
Solomons Lump Light is a lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, the abbreviated remains of a caisson light built in 1895. That structure replaced a screw-pile light built on the same spot in 1875, which in turn superseded the Fog Point Light.
The Choptank River Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located near Oxford, Maryland. In its second incarnation it was the only such light moved from another location in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Cove Point Light is a lighthouse located on the west side of Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Maryland.
The Sharkfin Shoal Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located at the mouth of the Nanticoke River in Chesapeake Bay, US.
Greenbury Point Light was the name of two lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay, both located at the mouth of the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland.
Drum Point Light is one of four surviving Chesapeake Bay screw-pile lighthouses. Originally located off Drum Point at the mouth of the Patuxent River, it is now an exhibit at the Calvert Marine Museum.
Hooper Strait Light is one of four surviving Chesapeake Bay screw-pile lighthouses in the U.S. state of Maryland. Originally located in Hooper Strait, between Hooper and Bloodsworth Islands in Dorchester County and at the entrance to Tangier Sound, it is now an exhibit at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland.
Wolf Trap Light is a caisson lighthouse in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay, about seven and a half miles northeast of New Point Comfort Light. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Tangier Sound Light was a lighthouse located south of Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Bells Rock Light was a lighthouse located in the York River in Virginia.
The Old Plantation Flats Light was a lighthouse located in the Chesapeake Bay marking the channel to Cape Charles, Virginia.
Smith Point Light is a caisson lighthouse in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Potomac River. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
The Craney Island Light was a screwpile lighthouse located just east of Craney Island at the mouth of the Elizabeth River in Virginia. This light replaced the first permanently stationed lightship in the United States.
The Brandywine Shoal Light is a lighthouse on the north side of the ship channel in Delaware Bay on the east coast of the United States, west of Cape May, Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. It was the site of the first screw-pile lighthouse in the United States.
Media related to Thimble Shoals lighthouse at Wikimedia Commons