The New Nation
Birthstone of the Nation
Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virgina Beach, VA
Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virgina Beach, VA
Cape Henry Lighthouse was the first lighthouse commissioned by the First Congress of the United States of America. American-born architect John McComb, Jr., was offered the contract. Constructed of hammered-dressed Rappahannock sandstone ashlar, the tower is seventy-two feet high with a spread foundation of twenty feet deep. Aquia stone was used on foundations, windows, and door surrounds. The octagon-shaped lighthouse, completed in October of 1791, took nineteen months to construct.
