Back River, VA 
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Back River Lighthouse stood at the entrance to Back River on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay, about six miles north of Old Point Comfort, Virginia. Built in 1829, the thirty-foot brick tower served as a guide to vessels entering Back River and as a landmark for watermen along the Chesapeake. Known locally as the Grand View Light, the picturesque station became a familiar part of the landscape and even a gathering place for the local community. Yet from the beginning, the lighthouse had a serious problem: the Chesapeake was steadily coming for it.
During its 127 years, Back River Lighthouse was repeatedly threatened by erosion, storms, and shifting sands. Keepers and government work crews continually repaired the tower, reinforced its foundation, and constructed bulkheads and riprap to hold back the Chesapeake. The lighthouse was damaged during the Civil War, only to be rebuilt and returned to service. It survived numerous major storms and continued to operate until it was automated in 1915. The light was discontinued in 1936, but the abandoned tower remained standing for another two decades before Hurricane Flossy finally swept it into the bay in 1956.
Congress appropriated $5,000 for a lighthouse or beacon at or near Back River Point on March 2, 1829. The government purchased four acres from Preson Watson and his wife for $100, and plans were soon prepared for the new station.
The specifications advertised in June 1829 provide an unusually detailed description of the lighthouse. The tower was to be built of brick in a round or conical form, thirty feet high, with an eighteen-foot diameter at the base and nine feet at the top. The walls were to be three feet thick at the base, tapering to twenty inches at the top. The foundation was to be sunk three feet, or as deep as necessary to make the structure secure.
An octagonal iron lantern was to sit atop the tower. Its dome was to be covered with copper, with a ventilator and copper weather vane at the top. The tower was to be equipped with a copper lightning conductor, and its exterior was to be whitewashed.
The keeper’s dwelling was a substantial brick house originally measuring thirty-four by twenty feet. It contained two rooms, chambers, fireplaces, a cellar, and an attached porch or kitchen. A well with a windlass and iron chain was also required, along with an outhouse. The specifications called for the entire establishment to be completed by November 1.
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Winslow Lewis of Boston submitted the lowest bid, offering to construct the lighthouse and dwelling for $3,500. He was also awarded $750 to install the lighting apparatus, consisting of ten patent lamps and ten fourteen-inch reflectors. The reflectors were to contain six ounces of pure silver apiece. Lewis’s bid was accepted by the Treasury Department in July.
Lewis soon discovered that the site presented a logistical problem. He apparently had expected a location farther north, where the water was deeper and supplies could be landed more easily. The actual site was about two miles from the end of the point, and materials had to be transferred to small boats and carried to shore. Lewis requested additional compensation for the unexpected expense, but the Treasury refused, pointing out that the advertisement had specified a location “at or near Back River Point.”
The lighthouse and dwelling were completed in the fall of 1829. The tower stood near the water’s edge, while the dwelling was set farther inland across marshy ground. An elevated walkway was eventually constructed between the two buildings.
William Jett was appointed the first keeper on October 9, 1829, at a salary of $400 per year. The Treasury Department specifically instructed him to reside at the station and to be “steadily in the house provided for the Keeper.”
Jett would become the most significant keeper in the early history of Back River Lighthouse. He remained at the station for more than twenty-two years, until his death in 1852, making him both the first and the longest-serving keeper in the station’s history.
The early years were not easy. In 1830, officials learned that water accumulated around the tower’s foundation during wet weather and authorized construction of a drainage ditch to carry it toward a nearby creek. Repairs were authorized in 1834, and a porch was added to the keeper’s dwelling for the comfort of Jett and his family.
The lighthouse’s lighting apparatus also required constant attention. An 1838 inspection found that the ten lamps were not properly filled, several had gone out, the reflectors had not been cleaned, and the lighthouse itself was very dirty. The light was described as badly kept. New clockwork was installed in 1839.
By the 1840s, however, the Chesapeake had become a far greater concern than the lamps. The low ground around the station was being washed away, and officials feared that the tower itself would eventually be undermined. Plans were developed to drive piles around the lighthouse and fill the space between the piles and the tower with stone, oyster shells, or other material.
An 1850 inspection found that considerable improvements had recently been made. A bridge of joists and planks connected the dwelling to the lighthouse, and a new kitchen had been built. Yet the land remained “very low and subject to be overflowed in heavy storms,” and the inspector noted that the land was washing away.
The inspection made the most revealing record of Jett’s final years at the station. In June 1851 he was described as the "principal and only keeper" and was credited with twenty-two years of service. Jett was sick at the time, and his son answered many of the inspector’s questions.
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The report also records something particularly noteworthy about the staffing of the station. Jett had appointed an assistant who was identified by the inspector as a “negro man.” The inspector added that this man “has been engaged in light-keeping since his boyhood.” His name unfortunately was not recorded.
The reference is significant because it documents a Black man with many years of lighthouse experience working at Back River during Jett’s long tenure. Although the surviving records do not tell us much about him, his experience was apparently substantial enough for the Lighthouse Board’s inspector to specifically note it.
The 1851 inspection found the revolving light somewhat unreliable. The clockwork would not start by itself and sometimes got out of order. Nevertheless, the tower was moderately clean, the lamps and mirrors were in reasonably good condition, and the keeper’s dwelling was described as being in very good order.
In 1855, the old lighting apparatus was replaced by a new revolving machine equipped with six fountain lamps and six twenty-one-inch parabolic reflectors. The new apparatus greatly increased the brilliance and efficiency of the light.
Back River Lighthouse’s location became particularly important during the Civil War because of its usefulness to vessels navigating Chesapeake Bay. In September 1861, Confederate authorities decided that the light should be destroyed because it was aiding Federal vessels operating in the area.
A party of Confederate soldiers under Lieutenant John A. Dickinson of the Burke County Rifles set out from Yorktown in three boats. After landing several miles from the lighthouse, the soldiers obtained the assistance of local guides and approached the station during the night.
The keeper was James F. Hawkins. The Confederate raiders surrounded the station, captured Hawkins, and wrecked the lighthouse and its lighting apparatus. A contemporary Confederate newspaper account described the operation as a “gallant exploit” and celebrated the destruction of the light as a blow against Federal navigation.
The lighthouse’s destruction proved temporary. Once Federal forces regained control of the region, the government began making plans to restore the important light.
In March 1863, Lighthouse Engineer W. J. Newman was instructed to visit Back River and Cape Henry to determine what was required to reestablish the two lights. By June, the Treasury Department reported that both stations would soon be ready for keepers. Later in 1863, Back River, Cape Henry, and Craney Island Shoal were reported repaired, renovated, refitted, and again in operation.
The Civil War was not the greatest threat Back River Lighthouse would face. That distinction belonged to the Chesapeake itself.
An extraordinary October gale in 1866 demonstrated the seriousness of the problem. The storm washed away piles that had been placed around the tower’s foundation, exposing the concrete beneath it. The concrete had been undermined and slipped downward, exposing the brick foundation of the lighthouse.
In 1868, riprap stone was placed around the tower to serve as a breakwater. The tower and dwelling were repaired and painted, and an old guardhouse was moved closer to the dwelling for use as an outbuilding.
The protection proved temporary. In 1878 the lighthouse was described as being in a “very dilapidated condition.” Wind and waves had undermined and thrown down a portion of the front of the tower. Crews packed small stones carefully around the foundation and then placed approximately 100 cubic yards of large riprap, with individual stones weighing between 1,500 and 3,000 pounds.
In 1881, movable screens were installed around the tower in an attempt to prevent drifting sand from being carried away from the foundation. The experiment was only partially successful.
Another 450 cubic yards of riprap were deposited around the tower in 1888 to combat the continuing advance of the sea. Back River Lighthouse was becoming a structure almost as much devoted to resisting nature as to guiding ships.
The keeper’s dwelling was enlarged in 1894 by adding another story. The change provided three additional habitable rooms and was necessary because the existing house was too small for the keeper’s family. The old kitchen was retained as a summer kitchen.
The station’s cistern house was practically rebuilt in 1899, while the rear porch and elevated walkway to the lighthouse were repaired.
The station’s greatest battle with the Chesapeake came in 1904. A severe storm completely wrecked the concrete protection wall along the seaward side of the keeper’s dwelling. Temporary supports were installed, and then a massive bulkhead approximately 459 feet long was constructed along the front and sides of the house.
The project required fifty-five pine piles and more than 30,000 feet of lumber, together with dozens of screw bolts, drift bolts, strap bolts, and iron washers. The piles and timbers were treated with wood preservative before being installed.
The elevated walkway from the keeper’s dwelling to the lighthouse, approximately 144 feet long, was also rebuilt.
Only about two weeks after construction of the bulkhead began, another severe storm struck. Seas rose fourteen feet against the porch of the dwelling and moved large stones around the lighthouse. The dwelling’s tin roof was partially torn away, and the gutters and downspouts were carried off.
The tender Thistle, anchored nearby, broke loose and went ashore. The tender was considerably damaged, and lumber had to be thrown overboard to refloat the vessel. The pile driver also grounded on the beach.
The work crew, however, refused to abandon the station. For three days they worked around the clock, eventually saving the keeper’s dwelling and supporting the elevated walkway sufficiently to keep the light operating. Back River Lighthouse had once again survived a direct assault by the Chesapeake.
James E. Lewellen became keeper of Back River Lighthouse in 1904 and would be the station’s final resident keeper.
One of the most dramatic episodes of Lewellen’s tenure occurred in September 1909, when the lighthouse became a refuge for a man who had narrowly escaped drowning.
Wilbur Miller, a mate on one of the Chesapeake Line steamers, and his brother Perry were traveling from Norfolk toward Mathews County aboard the small launch Virginia Dare. Shortly after six o'clock one Sunday evening, while the brothers were off York Spit, the bottom of the launch suddenly gave way and the boat sank.
Both men seized life preservers and began fighting the wind and tide. For more than eight hours they drifted and swam in the cold, dark water. Eventually they became separated. Perry finally reached shore about a mile below the lighthouse at approximately two o’clock Monday morning.
He immediately went to Back River Lighthouse, told Keeper Lewellen what had happened, and asked for help finding his brother. Lewellen responded by taking a small boat and lanterns and going out with Perry into the darkness. They soon discovered Wilbur on the bank several hundred yards above the light station. He was completely exhausted and nearly unconscious.
Lewellen and Perry carried the exhausted man back to the lighthouse, where he was given warm clothing, coffee, and food. A physician was summoned, and Wilbur was eventually taken to safety.
The newspaper account described the ordeal as a desperate battle for life and reported that Wilbur was so weakened that pneumonia was feared.
The rescue was a fitting example of the human role played by lighthouse keepers. Back River Lighthouse existed primarily to guide vessels, but the keeper and his station could also become a place of refuge when someone was in distress.
By 1915, the Lighthouse Service was automating many of the smaller lights that no longer required a full-time resident keeper. Back River was converted from oil illumination to acetylene gas.
A notice published in October announced that the light’s characteristic would change to a flashing white light every ten seconds, with a 2.5-second flash. The new acetylene light had an intensity of 750 candlepower and marked the main channel of Chesapeake Bay in Virginia waters.
The change brought an end to Lewellen’s twelve years as keeper of Back River. Lighthouse Service officials recommended that his position, which paid $560 per year, be discontinued at the close of October 31, 1915. His services were discontinued without prejudice.
Lewellen was not finished with the Lighthouse Service, however. On December 1, 1915, he was reinstated as assistant keeper at Newport News Middle Ground Lighthouse. He remained there until his resignation in March 1917.
After automation, responsibility for Back River Light was assigned to Richard F. Johnson, who was already in charge of nearby Northend Point Shoal and Swashway lights. Johnson was to receive additional compensation for caring for Back River as well. The three lights were collectively designated the Back River Lights, although their individual names continued to appear in the official Light List.
The change represented an important transition in lighthouse history. For eighty-six years, Back River had been a station where a keeper lived beside the light and personally maintained its lamps and machinery. Now one worker could supervise several minor automated lights in the surrounding waters.
The automated light continued to guide vessels until 1936, when Back River Lighthouse was finally discontinued.
The abandoned tower remained as a familiar landmark for another twenty years. By then, however, neglect and the relentless action of wind and water had taken their toll. The once-dry ground surrounding the lighthouse had steadily disappeared, and the tower that had spent its entire existence fighting the Chesapeake was ultimately left surrounded by water.
A 1950 newspaper described the picturesque Grand View Light Station as a meeting place for the community and a “mecca for local and visiting artists.” But the end was near.
On September 27, 1956, Hurricane Flossy struck the Virginia coast. The abandoned Back River Lighthouse collapsed during the storm, 127 years after its construction. The thirty-foot tower disappeared, leaving only a pile of stones in the surf.
Back River Lighthouse’s history is remarkable not because it was especially large or architecturally elaborate, but because of the extraordinary struggle involved in keeping such a vulnerable light in operation. For more than a century, Back River Lighthouse stood as a guide to Chesapeake mariners and as a familiar landmark on the Virginia shore. Its final disappearance was therefore fittingly caused by the same force that had challenged it throughout its existence. Hurricane Flossy did in 1956 what generations of storms had been unable to accomplish: it finally carried Back River Lighthouse away.
Keepers: William Jett (1829 – 1852), James Selater (1852 – 1853), George Cross (1853 – 1856), James F. Hawkins (1856 – 1861), William H. Abdell (1863 – 1870), William Thornton (1870 – 1878), Southey Parker (1878 – 1885), Robert T. Wallace (1885 – 1904), Elijah Wallace (1904), James E. Lewellen (1904 – 1915).
