Bells Rock Light
The Bells Rock Light was a lighthouse located in the York River in Virginia.
 Undated photograph of Bells Rock Light (USCG) | |
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| Location | Two miles downstream from West Point, Virginia on the York River |
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| Coordinates | 37.4839°N 76.7498°W |
| Year first lit | 1881 |
| Automated | 1928 |
| Deactivated | 1928  |
| Foundation | screw-pile |
| Construction | cast-iron/wood |
| Tower shape | hexagonal house |
| Tower height | 40 feet (12 m) |
| Focal height | 12 metre |
| Original lens | fourth-order Fresnel lens |
| Range | 4.3 nautical miles; 8.0 kilometres (5 mi) |
| Characteristic | Flashing 4 sec |
History
In the nineteenth century, West Point, Virginia was the head of navigation on the York River, and this light was requested in order to facilitate navigation there. A house was built for it at Lazaretto Point in 1880, but this was diverted to Thimble Shoal Light when the latter burned down. A second house was constructed and installed on this spot in 1881. Three years later it was struck by a schooner, breaking three of the support columns; these were repaired expeditiously, however, and the light passed the rest of its days uneventfully.
The diminishing of commercial traffic on the river made the light less important, and in 1928 the house was removed and a skeleton tower erected on the iron foundation. This arrangement continues to the present.
References
- "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Virginia" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
- Bells Rock 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. 153.
