Thimble Shoal Light
Overview
Sparkplug lighthouse
A sparkplug lighthouse, sometimes known as a bug light, is a type of caisson lighthouse so named because of its shape. Generally speaking, a sparkplug lighthouse consists of a three-story living area, with the lantern on top; the whole is then placed upon a concrete or metal caisson. The...
in the Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
, north of the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
channel. The third light at this location, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
The first light at this location was a hexagonal screw-pile lighthouse
Screw-pile lighthouse
A screw-pile lighthouse is a lighthouse which stands on piles that are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms. The first screw-pile lighthouse was built by blind Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell...
erected in 1872, replacing the last lightship
Lightvessel
A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship which acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction...
stationed within the bay. It was destroyed by fire in 1880 and replaced in the same year with a new house on the same foundation. This was facilitated by the availability of a newly constructed house originally intended for the Bells Rock Light
Bells Rock Light
The Bells Rock Light was a lighthouse located in the York River in Virginia.-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...
, so that the light was out of service for only fifty-five days.
The second light was plagued by collisions with passing ships: it was struck by a steamer in 1891, by a coal barge in 1898, and finally by the schooner Malcolm Baxter, Jr., which struck the lighthouse on December 27, 1909 while under tow.
