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Dutch Gap Canal Lights

Buildings and structures demolished in 1910Buildings and structures in Chesterfield County, VirginiaDemolished buildings and structures in VirginiaJames River (Virginia)Lighthouses completed in 1875
Lighthouses in Virginia

The Dutch Gap Canal Lights were built to mark the ends of Dutch Gap Canal, now called Dutch Gap Cutoff, which is a 3⁄4 nautical mile (1.4 km; 0.86 mi) cut across the base of an oxbow in the James River between Hopewell and Richmond, Virginia. They were on Farrar's Island, on the south side of the river.The first two structures were small wood frame towers similar in design to the Jordan Point Light, together with a keeper's house, which were built in 1875. The second tower washed away in December 1878; the first had been lost earlier. Both were replaced by lights on posts. The keeper's house was threatened by erosion of the cliff and was moved inland in 1890.In 1910 the lights were replaced by fixed lights. Their function survives, in modern form, as lights on skeleton towers, both with the characteristic Quick Flashing Green, numbers "151" and "155", Light List numbers 2-12705 and 2-12735. The coordinates shown are for light 151 which is actually in the river. The original light was on the bank to the south.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Dutch Gap Canal Lights (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Dutch Gap Canal Lights
Relic River Boardwalk,

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Latitude Longitude
N 37.376583333333 ° E -77.359527777778 °
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Henricus

Relic River Boardwalk
23836
Virginia, United States
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Farrar's Island
Farrar's Island

Farrar's Island is a peninsula on the west side of the James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It is the site of the Dutch Gap Conservation Area and Boat Landing and the Henricus Historical Park. Originally, Farrar's Island was formed by a meander loop in the James River and lay on the east side of the James River. At its smallest point, the neck of the peninsula was less than 400 feet (120 metres) wide. At that time, Farrar's Island was slightly less than 700 acres (280 hectares) and lay about 15 miles (24 km) south of the James River fall line at Richmond, Virginia. Due to its strategic location on the river, the neck of the peninsula became the site of the earliest English settlements in Virginia, Henricus, was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1611. Farrar's Island acquired its name after 1637 when the Farrar family obtained ownership as fulfillment the headright due to William Farrar, an early settler who was councillor and commissioner of the Crown Colony of Virginia. The Farrar family owned the peninsula until 1737 when it was sold to Thomas Randolph. During the last year of the American Civil War, Farrar's Island played a minor role in the Bermuda Hundred campaign. The James River along the peninsula anchored the left flank of Union General Benjamin Butler's defensive line. At this time, Farrar's Island was the site of river defenses by both Union and Confederate to deny the use of the James River to the enemy. The James River around Farrar's Island was also the site of one of the last major naval engagements of the war, the Battle of Trent's Reach. During the war, Farrar's Island became a true island when General Butler's troops built the Dutch Gap Canal, across the neck of the peninsula. In the 1870s, the Dutch Gap Canal was expanded to become the main channel of the James River, which allowed shipping to bypass the meander loop around Farrar's Island. The construction of the canal put Farrar's Island on the west side of the James River and it evolved into its present form with a tidal lagoon surrounded by woods and wetlands.