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Managing Organization:
Fort Monroe
Telephone: 757-727-2287
Website: http://www.tradoc.army.mil/monroe/
Email:
Notes:
This is the second oldest lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay. The lighthouse is owned and maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. The keeper's house is owned and maintained by the U.S. Army. It is the residence for Fort Monroe's Command Sergeant Major.
Tower Height: 58
Height of Focal Plane: 54
Characteristic and Range: Two red flashes every 12 seconds.
Description of Tower: White, octagonal pyramidal sandstone tower with red and green lantern.
This light is operational
Date Established: 1774
Date Present Tower Built: 1802
Date Automated: 1972
Optics: 185?: Fourth order Fresnel lens, still in use.
Fog Signal: 1855: fog bell.
Current Use: Active aid to navigation, military housing.
Open To Public? Grounds only.
Museum?
The Casemate Museum at Fort Monroe includes exhibits on the military history of the area. The museum is open all year (except January 1, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day) daily 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. From the fort's elevated perimeter you can see Thimble Shoals Lighthouse in the distance. Casement Museum: (757) 727-3391.
Directions:
Take I-64 to Hampton and depart the interstate at Exit 268 (VA 169). Follow VA 169 (Mallory Street), take a right on VA 143 (County Street). Continue to the main gate of the fort. Ava Boczko-Pan writes of a visit in October 2002: "After an ID check, the MP at the gate stated that no photography was possible since 9/11. The MP stated that the high level of security would continue until further notice."
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
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