Wolf Trap Light

Wolf Trap Shoal juts into the bay from Winter Harbor, a point a few miles north of Mobjack Bay and the York River. It got its name from the 1691 grounding of HMS Wolf, a British naval vessel engaged in enforcing the Navigation Act and in combating piracy.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pWiCMTB35mEC&q=hms+wolf+1691&pg=PA55

|page=55 |title=Norfolk: The First Four Centuries|author=Thomas C. Parramore with Peter C. Stewart and Tommy L. Bogger|publisher=The University Press of Virginia|year = 1994|isbn=0813915570 |lccn=94009457 }} In 1821 a lightship was stationed at this spot, and after refurbishment in 1854, the original ship was destroyed by Confederate raiders in 1861 during the Civil War. Two years later a replacement ship was put on station.

File:First Wolf Trap Lighthouse.jpg

In 1870 a screwpile lighthouse was constructed on a hexagonal foundation, the house being prefabricated at the station at Lazzaretto Point in Baltimore. This light survived until 22 January 1893,{{Cite book |last=Bergland |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IhYDAAAAYAAJ&q=%22wolf+trap%22 |title=Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury, 1894 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1894 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=Appendix No. II}} when ice tore the house from its foundation. The keeper was able to escape, but the house was found floating far to the south at Thimble Shoals, where the lantern and lens were recovered.

A lighthouse tender was put on station to serve as a temporary lightship and a request was put to Congress to appropriate funds for a new lighthouse. LV-46, assigned to tend the station, suffered a boiler casualty August 28, 1893, killing two of the crew, and was replaced by LV-97 until March 16, 1894, when LV-46 could return to the station.{{cite book |title=Lightships: Floating Lighthouses of the Mid Atlantic Coast |last=Kirklin |first=Wayne |year=2007 |publisher=The History Press |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=9781596293502 |lccn=2007024696 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pF2UOA7nPDAC&q=lightship+OR+lightvessel+%22LV+97%22&pg=PA33 |access-date=4 March 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

On 3 March 1893 Congress approved $70,000 for the construction of the new light. The screw-pile design was abandoned because of its demonstrated weakness in the face of ice. The new design called for the lighthouse to sit on a cast-iron pier. The pier was a cylindrical shell that flared out at the top. The shell was {{Convert|30|ft|m}} in diameter at its base and {{Convert|42|ft|m}} tall. It was built of 210 cast-iron plates which were 1", 1 1/4", and 1 1/2" thick. They were bolted together on site with 1 1/4" bolts. The bottom {{Convert|30|ft|m}} of the shell was filled with concrete. The remainder of the shell became the cellar for the house. It contained water tanks, and separate rooms for the storage of coal, oil, and provisions. The house was built on top of the shell. It was made of brick, painted red in the late 1920s,{{cite web |title=Wolf Trap Lighthouse Timeline |url=http://www.cheslights.org/heritage/timeline/WolfTrapTimeline.pdf |access-date=4 March 2012 |publisher=Chesapeake Chapter, U.S. Lighthouse Society}} standing two stories with the lantern on its roof. Unlike the Maryland examples, the roof is flat. Quantities of rip-rap were dumped around the base of the light to resist pressure from the ice.

The Engineer of the 5th Lighthouse District, Captain Eric Bergland, was responsible for the construction of the new light. While contractors and temporary laborers did much of the work, he and his staff were on site and used 5th District ships to support the construction.  USLHT Jessamine hauled materials to the site, did test boring, and drove mooring piles.{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IhYDAAAAYAAJ&q=jessamine |title=Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1894 |date=1895 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |language=en}}

The metalwork for the pier cost $6,950. This material was delivered to the Lazaretto Depot of the Lighthouse Board in November 1893. The cost of erecting the pier was $31,150. The pier was completed in April 1894. Jessamine began loading material for the superstructure of the light on 26 June 1894.{{Cite news |date=26 June 1894 |title=Wolf Trap Light |pages=8 |work=Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/374820740/?terms=%22wolf%20trap%20light%22&match=1}} The Lighthouse Board published a Notice to Mariners announcing that the new light would be lit on or about 30 September 1894.{{Cite news |date=28 August 1894 |title=Notice To Mariners |pages=2 |work=Boston Morning Journal |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11CE74B6F9A6E5CC%40GB3NEWS-11E089B3575A2A28%402413069-11E089B36CEBE890%401-11E089B40A043968%40Shipping%2BNews?h=6&fname=&mname=&lname=&rgfromDate=1894&rgtoDate=1894&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&kwinc=%22wolf%20trap%20light%22&kwexc=&sid=bhygsrxdahyqulnvlxucrkcrykqrlvha_ip-10-166-46-77_1701129646848}}

Complaints about the visibility of the original fixed light led to a change to a flashing characteristic in 1895. Automation came in 1971. A 300mm acrylic lens was installed in 1984, to be replaced with the current VRB-25 in 1996. A set of black plywood blinds is installed in the lantern to block stray reflections from the panes.

Wolf Trap Light was offered to non-profit and historical organizations in 2004 under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. As no applications were received, it was put up for auction in 2005. Nick Korstad, of Seattle, Washington, purchased the station, and was unable to obtain financing for his plan to convert the light into a bed and breakfast, and after an unsuccessful attempt to auction the light on eBay, it was sold privately again. The light was bought by Dr. James Southard, Jr. for $119,000, and was again up for sale in 2012, including a nearby waterfront lot, for $288,000.{{cite web|title=Wolf Trap Lighthouse, Virginia|url=http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=441|publisher=LighthouseFriends.com|access-date=24 December 2012}} In March 2023, the lighthouse was purchased by Richard Cucé of Quakertown, Pennsylvania for $125,000. Mr Cucé also owns Hooper Island Lighthouse near Dorchester County, Maryland.{{cite web|title=Wolf Trap Light to get facelift|date=26 July 2023 |url=https://www.gazettejournal.net/wolf-trap-light-to-get-facelift/|publisher=www.gazettejournal.net|access-date=27 July 2023}}

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category-inline|Wolf Trap Light}}

• [http://cblights.com/lights/wolftrap.html Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Wolf Trap Light]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioDJAHdSojY We paid $200,000 for an abandoned lighthouse! Our first time inside Wolf Trap Lighthouse!]

{{Lighthouses of Virginia}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia}}

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Category:Lighthouses completed in 1870

Category:Lighthouses completed in 1894

Category:Houses completed in 1894

Category:Buildings and structures in Mathews County, Virginia

Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Mathews County, Virginia

Category:Brick buildings and structures in Virginia