Killock Shoal Light - Chincoteague Island, VA - Coastal Lighthouses on Waymarking.com

Killock Shoal Light was built in 1886, automated in 1923, and decommissioned in 1939. The screw-pile lighthouse had a 4th order Fresnel lense (0.722 m high with a 250 mm focal length) at one end of the structure. The light was 47 ft. 10 in. above mean high water level. The small 1.5 story square frame house was deactivated and dismantled in 1939 and replaced by an automated light on a steel tower on the original foundation. A mechanical device struck a bell every 15 seconds.

Screw-piles are basically posts with a propeller-like attachment at the end that is screwed into sandy or muddy sea bottoms. After several screw-piles are placed, a structure is build on them. Screw-piles, also known as Helical piles, were invented by a blind Irish engineer named Alexander Mitchell in the 1830s. Helical piles are still in use today around the world.

All that remains of this light in the Chincoteague Channel today is a steel structure visible north of the the Route 175 bridge to Chincoteague Island. Westbound motorists can see the structure to their right as they cross the bridge from the island to the mainland. Stopping on the bridge is illegal and dangerous. Passengers may be able to take photographs out the vehicle window safely while crossing the bridge.

To see a US Coast Guard photograph of Killock Shoal Light, visit www.cheslights.org/heritage/killockshoal.htm.

Sources: www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHVA.asp
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Coastal Lighthouse: Lighthouse Range Lights: Not listed LIGHTHOUSE CHALLENGE VISIT: Not listed

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