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The quaint 1856 Jones Point Lighthouse in Alexandra, Virginia is in rough shape and it seems that the National Park Service (NPS), the government agency that owns the lighthouse, might not have the money to fix it up.
The real problem is neglect. Located within the boundaries of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the lighthouse was last renovated in 2010-2012 by the (NPS) and before that, in 1993, by the Mount Vernon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the group that also relighted the lantern in 1995.
NPS spokesperson Aaron LaRocca said, “Approximately ten years ago, the NPS invested over $600,000 in the lighthouse, including work on the stairs, porch and roof. We currently have a proposed project for additional work, including exterior maintenance and interior restoration. However, it has not yet been funded. We recognize the need for ongoing maintenance of the facility, some of which is routine and some of which is more significant.”
LaRocca said that they are moving toward that end: “Park staff are taking steps to develop interim maintenance measures for the site and building with a newly established Park Strike Team. This team, made up of subject matter experts, will identify and execute routine maintenance at the Jones Point Lighthouse.”
Lighthouse Digest wonders why experts are needed to see what is plainly seen by the rest of us. The building needs to be cleaned and painted, and damage needs to be fixed. If maintenance was done on a regular basis, the situation would not have gotten so bad.
In 1926, when the U.S. Lighthouse Service deemed that Jones Point Lighthouse was no longer needed and its beam was extinguished, the Mount Vernon Chapter of the DAR campaigned to save the lighthouse, and on June 11, 1926, an act of Congress deeded the lighthouse to them.
However, when World War II broke out, the U.S. Army seized the lighthouse and fenced it off. In 1953, the Army gave the lighthouse back to the DAR. What they got was a total wreck. Soldiers had used the lighthouse for target practice and the building had been almost completely gutted. Why the U.S. Army, in the interest of national security, found it necessary to practically destroy a historic lighthouse, still baffles historians.
In 1964, the DAR gave the lighthouse to the NPS with the stipulation that the surrounding area be turned into a park. In the 1980s the DAR fought off an attempt by the government to sell that land to a real estate developer. An agreement was then made that the 50-acre park would remain owned by the NPS, and the city of Alexandra would maintain the grounds of the park.
Hopefully, the day will come when a restored Jones Point Lighthouse will be open to the public as an interpretive museum that will detail the history of the lighthouse and the keepers who once lived there. But for now, its future is questionable.
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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