Jordan Point Light

Infobox Lighthouse


caption = 1885 photograph of second Jordan Point Light (USCG)
location = Jordan Point on the south bank of the James River
coordinates = coord|37.3132|N|77.2234|W|type:landmark (approx.)
yearlit = 1856/1875(1870?)
automated =
yeardeactivated = 1927
foundation =
construction = wood
shape = tower on house; freestanding tower
height = 35 ft
lens = sixth-order Fresnel lens
currentlens =
range =
characteristic = The Jordan Point Light was a lighthouse located on Jordan Point on the James River in Virginia, near the south end of the present Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge.

History

The history of this station is confused at points, but it appears that a light was first constructed on the point in 1855. This consisted of a keeper's house with a masthead light on the roof. Erosion at the point threatened this building, and it was torn down in 1875 (or possibly 1870) and replaced with a pyramidal wooden tower. New separate keeper's quarters were built in 1888.

Erosion continued to eat away at the projecting point, and in 1927 the whole station was abandoned. In 1941 a new skeleton tower was erected at the site of the old tower; this tower is still in service as the rear light of the Jordan Point Range.

References

* [http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/WEBLIGHTHOUSES/LHVA.html Virginia Light Stations] , from the United States Coast Guard
* [http://www.cheslights.org/heritage/jordanpoint.htm Jordan Point Light] , from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
*cite book
last= de Gast
first= Robert
title= The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake
year= 1973
publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press p. 150