Old Point Comfort Lighthouse

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MANAGED BY:

United States Coast Guard

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2 listed

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Origins of the Point Comfort Lighthouse may date back to sixteenth-century American Indians. Some historians have suggested that American Indians burned wood along the coast to aid Spanish shops entering the harbor. There may be some validity to these theories as the Spanish did set up a Mission along the York River in 1570. The Mission was short lived as Spanish Jesuits were killed by Indians the following year. This set off a small conflict between American Indians and the Spanish in the New World. A more viable origin of Point Comfort’s Lighthouse occurred in 1774 when Virginia employed John Dames as caretaker of the ruins of Fort George (destroyed by a Hurricane previously). Tradition holds that Dames passed his boredom by operating a light and guiding ships into Hampton Roads. By 1775, Dames was granted a salary of 20 pounds annually. The 54 foot white octagonal structure was built in 1802 and is the oldest structure at Point Comfort. A spiral staircase leads to the top where ten oil lanterns burned 486 gallons of oil per year (today the oil lanterns are replaced by modern bulbs). In the nineteenth century, the oil lanterns could be seen for up to fourteen miles out to sea. In 1813, the British captured this lighthouse and burned Hampton in June 25, 1813 as a result of their defeat at the hands of Virginia militia at Norfolk. The Point Comfort Lighthouse was a beacon of freedom to enslaved people seeking refuge at Fort Monroe. Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, James Townsend and other enslaved people may have followed the light from Sewell’s Point to Point Comfort. William Roscoe Davis arrived at Fort Monroe in 1861 seeking freedom. Born around Norfolk, Virginia in 1814 to an enslaved mother of mixed African and American Indian descent and a Caucasian father, Davis found an opportunity to escape as a boat operator pre-Civil War. While at Fort Monroe, Davis spoke to enslaved people and United States soldiers with a preacher’s aura. In 1870, Davis returned to Hampton from his time in New York and operated the lighthouse in 1870 for eight years. Following Davis’ tenure was another formerly enslaved individual, John Jones who kept his post for 30 years. Today, the lighthouse is operated by the Coast Guard and closed to the public.