List of lighthouses in Virginia

This is a list of all lighthouses in the U.S. state of Virginia as identified by the United States Coast Guard. There are nine active lights in the state as well as three automated caissons and eleven skeleton towers replacing previously manned lights.

The first lighthouse in the state was erected in 1792 (the first Cape Henry Light) and it is the oldest surviving structure; the last, Chesapeake Light, was built in 1965 (ignoring automated towers erected later). The tallest extant tower is that at Cape Charles Light.

If not otherwise noted, focal height and coordinates are taken from the United States Coast Guard Light List,^[1] while location and dates of activation, automation, and deactivation are taken from the United States Coast Guard Historical information site for lighthouses.^[2] Locations of demolished lights have been estimated using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) navigational charts.

Name	Location	Coordinates	Image	Focal Height	Built[note 1]	Automated	Deactivated	Status
Assateague Light	Assateague Island	37°54′40″N 75°21′21″W / 37.9111°N 75.3558°W		142 ft (43 m)	1867	1933		Active
Back River Light	Chesapeake Bay near Hampton	37°05′14″N 76°16′11″W / 37.0872°N 76.2698°W		30 ft (9.1 m)	1829		1936	Destroyed
Bells Rock Light	York River	37°29′02″N 76°44′59″W / 37.4839°N 76.7498°W		40 ft (12 m)	1881	1928		replaced with skel. tower
Bowlers Rock Light	Rappahannock River	37°49′28″N 76°43′58″W / 37.8245°N 76.7327°W			1868		1920	replaced with caisson light
Cape Charles Light	Cape Charles	37°07′22″N 75°54′23″W / 37.1229°N 75.9063°W		180 ft (55 m)	1828/1895	1963		Active
Cape Henry Light (old)	Cape Henry, Virginia Beach	36°55′33″N 76°00′29″W / 36.9257°N 76.0081°W			1792		1881	Inactive
Cape Henry Light (new)	Cape Henry, Virginia Beach	36°55′35″N 76°00′26″W / 36.9264°N 76.0072°W		164 ft (50 m)	1881	1984		Active
Cherrystone Bar Light	SW of Cape Charles	37°15′23″N 76°01′57″W / 37.2564°N 76.0324°W			1858		1919	Moved to Choptank River Light; replaced with caisson light
Chesapeake Light	entrance to Chesapeake Bay	36°54′17″N 75°42′46″W / 36.90472°N 75.71278°W		120 ft (37 m)	1965	1980		Active
Craney Island Light	mouth of Elizabeth River	36°53′31″N 76°20′13″W / 36.892°N 76.337°W		36 ft (11 m)	1859/1884		1936	replaced with buoy
Deepwater Shoals Light	James River	37°8′11.46″N 76°38′12.48″W / 37.1365167°N 76.6368000°W		27 ft (8.2 m)	1855		1936	replaced with skel. tower
Dutch Gap Canal Lights	James River	37°22′35″N 77°21′34″W / 37.37639°N 77.35944°W		27 ft (8.2 m)	1875		1910	replaced with skel. towers
Great Wicomico River Light	Chesapeake Bay	37°48′15″N 76°16′03″W / 37.8042°N 76.2675°W		42 ft (13 m)	1889	1967		replaced with skel. tower
Hog Island Light	Hog Island near Exmore, Virginia	37°23′38″N 75°42′04″W / 37.394°N 75.701°W			1853/1896		1948	Demolished
Jones Point Light	Alexandria	38°47′25.4″N 77°02′26.3″W / 38.790389°N 77.040639°W			1856	1919	1926	supplanted by skel. tower; Standing but inactive[note 2]
Jordan Point Light	James River	37°18′47″N 77°13′23″W / 37.313°N 77.223°W		35 ft (11 m)	1856/1875		1927	Replaced by skel. tower in 1941
Killock Shoal Light	West of Chincoteague, Virginia	37°56′02″N 75°22′48″W / 37.934°N 75.380°W		48 ft (15 m)	1886	1929	1939	Replaced by skel. tower in 1941; now unlit
Lambert Point Light	Norfolk	36°52′30″N 76°19′52″W / 36.875°N 76.331°W			1872		1892	Collapsed around 1911
Nansemond River Light	Nansemond and James rivers	36°54′43″N 76°26′42″W / 36.912°N 76.445°W			1878		1935	Removed ca. 1980
New Point Comfort Light	Chesapeake Bay	36°54′43″N 76°26′42″W / 36.912°N 76.445°W		58 ft (18 m)	1804	1930	1963	Inactive
Newport News Middle Ground Light	Newport News	36°56′43″N 76°23′29″W / 36.9452°N 76.3915°W		70 ft (21 m)	1891	1954		Active
Old Plantation Flats Light	Cape Charles	37°13′44″N 76°02′49″W / 37.2288°N 76.0469°W		35 ft (11 m)	1886		1962	replaced with skel. tower
Old Point Comfort Light	Hampton	37°00′06″N 76°18′23″W / 37.0018°N 76.3064°W		58 ft (18 m)	1802	1972		active
Pages Rock Light	York River	37°18′39″N 76°35′12″W / 37.3109°N 76.5866°W		43 ft (13 m)	1893	1960	1967	removed
Point of Shoals Light	James River	37°04′06″N 76°39′11″W / 37.0683°N 76.6530°W			1855/1871	1932	1933	house removed
Pungoteague Creek Light	Chesapeake Bay	37°39′47″N 75°53′53″W / 37.6630°N 75.8980°W			1854		1856	replaced with automated caisson light
Smith Point Light	mouth of Potomac River	37°52′48″N 76°11′02″W / 37.8800°N 76.1839°W		52 ft (16 m)	1802/1897	1971		active
Stingray Point Light	mouth of Rappahannock River	37°33′41″N 76°16′12″W / 37.5613°N 76.2700°W		34 ft (10 m)	1858	1965	1965	replaced with skel. tower
Tangier Sound Light	Chesapeake Bay	37°47′16″N 75°58′26″W / 37.7878°N 75.9740°W		45 ft (14 m)	1890		1961	replaced with skel. tower
Thimble Shoal Light	Chesapeake Bay, north of Hampton Roads	37°00′53″N 76°14′24″W / 37.0146°N 76.2399°W		52 ft (16 m)	1872/1914	1964		active
Tue Marshes Light	mouth of York River	37°14′08″N 76°23′09″W / 37.2356°N 76.3859°W		41 ft (12 m)	1875		1960	replaced with skel. tower
Watts Island Light	Chesapeake Bay	37°46′55″N 75°53′38″W / 37.782°N 75.894°W		48 ft (15 m)	1833	1923	1944	destroyed
White Shoal Light	James River	37°01′18″N 76°31′39″W / 37.0218°N 76.5275°W			1855/1871		1934	house destroyed by ice in the 1970s; foundation survives
Windmill Point Light	mouth of Rappahannock River	37°35′48″N 76°14′09″W / 37.5968°N 76.2359°W		36 ft (11 m)	1869		1965	replaced with skel. tower
Wolf Trap Light	Chesapeake Bay	37°35′48″N 76°14′09″W / 37.5968°N 76.2359°W		52 ft (16 m)	1870/1894	1971		active
York Spit Light	mouth of York River	37°12′35″N 76°15′15″W / 37.2096°N 76.2542°W			1870		1960	replaced with post light

Notes

1. If there is a second date, it represents the date the most recent tower was lit.
2. Re-lit as private Aid to Navigation in 1995

References

1. Light List, Volume II, Atlantic Coast, Shrewsbury River, New Jersey to Little River, South Carolina (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012.
2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Virginia". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.