Fenwick Island Light, on the Delaware-Maryland state line in southern Delaware, is the state's oldest lighthouse, built in 1858 when the coast was still largely isolated. Congress funded the station, the land was purchased from Mary C. Hall, and U.S. Army Captain William F. Raynolds supervised construction. The 87-foot brick tower, originally equipped with a third-order Fresnel lens, first displayed its light in 1859 and was automated in 1940. Decommissioned in 1978, it was later preserved through local effort, relit in 1982, restored in 1997, rededicated in 1998, and remains a symbol of Delaware's maritime heritage.