The Jones Point Lighthouse

In the 1850's, Alexandria was one of the busiest seaports in the Chesapeake region, and to help guide Potomac River ship traffic the federal government built the Jones Point lighthouse, first illuminated on May 1, 1856. It was one of the first lighthouses designed under a new unified plan that combined the beacon and keeper's house in a single structure. The keeper's duties included keeping a journal and log of expenditures, maintaining the lighthouse and grounds, employing attendants, reporting wrecks, and being courteous and polite to visitors. One keeper, Benjamin Potter Greenwood, became known for Sunday gatherings in the buoy shed near the lighthouse, where citizens listened to recollections, sometimes played poker, and shared Maryland rye or Virginia corn. The lantern was outfitted with a fifth order Fresnel lens, then new technology, and the beacon first used whale oil, later gas, then a fixed red oil lamp, and finally a flashing white gas lamp. While the red light was in use, the point gained a reputation as a nautical red light zone with gambling barges and floating brothels. Between 1910 and 1912, the Army Corps of Engineers infilled the cove at Jones Point, and in 1926 a fully automated 60-foot steel tower with beacon was erected along the new coastline to replace the obsolete lighthouse.

Alexandria, Virginia · United States