The Old Plantation Flats Light was a
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
located in the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...
marking the channel to
Cape Charles, Virginia.
History
Old Plantation Flats is a
shoal
In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...
paralleling the
Eastern Shore near the mouth of the bay, taking its name from Old Plantation Creek which empties into the bay near the center of the shoal. A square screw-pile light was erected on the shoal in 1886. It was constantly plagued by
ice floes, with the original lens being destroyed in 1893, and more substantial damage done in 1918. After the latter the piles were reinforced with concrete and surrounded with
rip-rap. The resulting structure was unlike any other in the bay.
In the 1890s the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
established
Cape Charles, Virginia as the southern terminus of its Eastern Shore rail system. The
Corps of Engineers dredged out a lagoon and created a channel running across the flats, with the light serving to mark its entrance. This channel allowed the railroad to connect to points west through
car float
A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of Lighter (barge), lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it i ...
operations.
In 1962 the house was removed from the light and replaced with the usual skeleton tower. However, in 2004 a replica was constructed as part of the Bay Creek Resort and Club being built south of Cape Charles. This replica includes a 1940s-era fog bell taken from a retired
buoy
A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents.
History
The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...
and a new fourth-order lens, the first constructed in eighty years. Another half size replica sits astride a
golf cart causeway, forming a sort of
covered bridge.
References
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Old Plantation Flats Light from the Chesapeake Chapter of the
United States Lighthouse Society
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Lighthouses completed in 1886
Lighthouses in Virginia
Buildings and structures in Northampton County, Virginia
Transportation in Northampton County, Virginia
Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay
Buildings and structures demolished in 1962