Smith Point Lighthouse

Year Built

1897

Cost

$80,000

Type

Octagonal

Height

feet

Location

West shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia at the mouth of the Potomac River

Automated Year

1971

First Lit

1897

Lens Type

Fourth order Fresnel lens (original), DCB-24 (current)

Fog Signal

None

Year Deactivated

Active

Color

White w/black lantern, red base

Last Keeper - Date

William E. Joyce (1969 – at least 1970)

Description

The lighthouse is privately owned. Tower closed.

Brief History

•  February 14, 1895, a more powerful ice floe wrenched the entire structure from its foundation and carried it away just one day after its keepers had fled.
•  Construction on a new lighthouse began in Baltimore in 1896, and in April of the next year, the bottom part of the foundation was towed to the offshore site.
•  On February 10, 1900, a Daboll trumpet was installed at the lighthouse, but the station’s fog bell was retained as a backup device.
•  Coast Guard personnel were removed from the station in 1971, when a three-mile-long submarine power cable was run between the station and shore.
•  In 2005, Smith Point was one of four offshore lighthouses in Virginia to be auctioned off by the General Services Administration.