CAPE HENRY LIGHTHOUSE-FORT STORY, VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA

First Built: 1879-1881
First Lit: 1881
Current Tower Construction & Facts:

• Year Built: 1879-1881
• Tower Height: 164 feet
• Focal Plane: 164 feet
• Material: Cast iron plated inner and outer walls with a brick lining
• Shape: Octagonal
• Markings: Two rows of alternating vertical black and white stripes
• Optic: First order Fresnel Lens installed early 1880s
  • Originally lit by oil lamps and reflectors
  • Now lit by Fresnel and 1000 watt 80,000 candlepower bulb
• Characteristic: 20 second flashing
• Electricity: 1923
• Automated: 1984
• Visibility: 15-19 miles due to bright city lights that overpower it

Fog Signal Facts:

• Steam siren signal
• Diaphone fog signal

Currently Owned By: US Coast Guard
Currently Managed By: US Coast Guard
Accessibility: Not open to the public, can be seen from the street and from Old Cape Henry lighthouse.
Special Facts:

• Used as a radio beacon for the US Coast Guard
• Is a ground site for the Global Positioning System
• Is a harbor control tower for the Virginia Pilots Association and the Association of Maryland Pilots
• Built because the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse was deemed dangerously unstable due to large cracks in its faces.

Cape Henry is the 9th tallest lighthouse in the United States.

• 1905 photo.....