Hog Island Light, north side of the Great Machipongo Inlet, Exmore, Virginia
HOG ISLAND LIGHT
Name of Lighthouse: Hog Island Light
Location: SW point of Hog Island Great Machipongo Inlet
Date Built: First tower build 1853
Type of Structure: Conical white brick tower
Operational: No
Date Automated: N/A
Deactivated: March 1948
Height: Focal plane is 72’ above mean high water
Foghorn: none
Construction Material: brick
Original Lens: 1st Order Fresnel
Characteristics: Fixed white light
Status: Demolished – site under water
Historical Information:
- Light was first established in 1853 on the north side of Great Machipongo Inlet with a First Order Fresnel lens. However an inspection report dated 1870 indicates the lens was a 4th Order. The tower was conical brick tower painted white.
- Erosion caused the need to rebuild the light. A replacement was completed and lit in 1896. The new structure was a black steel skeletal tower.
- Deactivated in 1948 and the lens was put on display in the Newport News Mariners Museum.
- In November 2004 the lens was put on display in a glass enclosed pavilion on the Portsmouth waterfront.
The above was researched and drafted by Anne Puppa, a Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society volunteer.