The Lambert Point Light was a small

screwpile 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 piles, screw-pile lighthouse to begin construction was built by the blind Northern Ireland, Irish engineer Al ...

Lambert's Point Lambert's Point is a point of land on the east shore of the Elizabeth River near the downtown area of the independent city of Norfolk in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia, United States. It includes a large coal exporting faci ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, United States; it was built in 1872. The lighthouse was meant to serve the increased shipping traffic on the Elizabeth River, and initially was designed with six piles. The plans were changed when five surplus piles were found; in the end the structure was square, and sat on these five piles. The building was painted brown, and showed a red light from a fifth-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

. Within a few months the lighthouse had settled more than on one side. The reason was never discovered, but it was believed that the missing sixth pile might have contributed to the problem. Eventually the structure sat at a tilt, with the west side about lower than the east. To stabilize the building, more piles were added to the foundation; at this time a dock and

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

were added to the station. The lighthouse gradually became useless due to construction at the point, and eventually it was surrounded by piers and

warehouses A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, to ...

built by the

Norfolk and Western Railroad The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

. It was eventually suggested that a new lighthouse be built at

Bush's Bluff Bush Brothers and Company is a family-owned corporation best known for its Bush's Best brand canned baked beans. The company produces approximately 80 percent of the canned baked beans consumed in the United States, representing estimated annual s ...

, some miles upriver, and that this might supersede the light at Lambert's Point. This project failed, however, because a new lighthouse was deemed too expensive. The Lambert Point Light was finally extinguished on December 31, 1892, the same year that Bush's Bluff was marked with a

lightvessel A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the ...

. The

fog signal A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. ...

at the station was reestablished in 1901, and served for the next 10 years. The building eventually collapsed sometime around 1911, and no trace of it remains.

References

History of the light
*Robert de Gast. ''Lighthouses of the Chesapeake''. Baltimore; The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973. Lighthouses completed in 1872 Lighthouses in Virginia Buildings and structures in Norfolk, Virginia Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay 1872 establishments in Virginia {{US-lighthouse-stub