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Thanks to a $1.8 million restoration project, Virginia’s New Point Comfort Lighthouse, located on an island at the entrance to Mobjack Bay, has officially been removed from the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of Endangered Lighthouses.
The actual saving of the lighthouse began back in 2001 when a task force was created by Virginia’s Mathews County Historical Society to come up with a master plan for the historic lighthouse.
The first phase of that plan began in 2009, which involved stabilizing the island that has been threatened by erosion problems ever since the lighthouse was built in 1806; a project that was completed in 2012. The final phase, the restoration of the tower itself, was completed in late 2021, followed by the relighting of the lantern with a solar light that that flashes every four seconds.
According to local sources, the project might never have reached its conclusion had it not been for the unwavering dedication and leadership of the late Earle Soles, who served as the president of the Mathews County Historical Society that spearheaded the effort. Unfortunately, Earle Soles passed away in August of 2018 before he could see the fruits of his efforts.
This story appeared in the
Mar/Apr 2022 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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