The Cherrystone Bar Light was a lighthouse located at the entrance to Cape Charles, Virginia harbor in the Chesapeake Bay. It was the only light in the bay moved to another location, becoming the Choptank River Light in 1921.[citation needed]

Cherrystone Bar Light
Map
LocationSW of Cape Charles, Virginia harbor in the Chesapeake Bay
Coordinates37°15′23″N 76°01′57″W / 37.2564°N 76.0324°W / 37.2564; -76.0324
Tower
Foundationscrew-pile
Constructioncast-iron/wood
Shapehexagonal house
Light
First lit1858
Deactivated1919
Lensfourth-order Fresnel lens

History

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This light was constructed shortly before the Civil War, and like the other Virginia lights, it was put out of commission by the Confederate forces. It was reactivated by Union forces in 1862.

In 1919, a simple skeleton tower on a small caisson was erected to replace the old light. The following year, the house was lifted from its foundation and barged north, where it was set on a new foundation to replace the Choptank River Light, which had been destroyed by ice in 1918. This light was eventually dismantled in 1964, but the caisson light at the original location remains in use.

References

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  • "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Virginia" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • Cherrystone Bar Light, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
  • de Gast, Robert (1973). The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 170.