Wolf Trap Light

Wolf Trap Light stands on Wolf Trap Shoal in Virginia waters of Chesapeake Bay and traces a long history of navigation aids shaped by danger and loss. The shoal was named after the grounding of HMS Wolf in 1691. A lightship first served here in 1821, but Civil War raiders destroyed a refurbished vessel in 1861. A screwpile lighthouse erected in 1870 was torn away by ice in 1893, prompting construction of a stronger cast-iron caisson lighthouse completed in 1894. Its beam was changed to flashing in 1895, the station was automated in 1971, and it later passed into private ownership while remaining a distinctive Chesapeake offshore light.

Virginia · United States