Markers of History

Path of History
First Order Fresnel Lens from the Hog Island Light

Location: River Front Park, Portsmouth, VA 23704

Visited: June 23, 2009, 3:20pm

Transcription of marker:

This pavil­ion dis­plays a first order Fresnel lens from the sec­ond Hog Island Light. The lens began ser­vice in 1896. Originally built in 1852, the first build­ing was destroyed by ero­sion and rebuilt in 1896, only to be deac­ti­vated in 1948. The loca­tions of both these lights are now under water off the Eastern Shore.

The Fresnel Lens was named after Augustin Fresnel — the French physi­cist who devised the opti­cal sys­tem around 1822. At about 10 feet high and 2,500 pounds, this lens is among the largest and bright­est of its kind, with more than 250 prisms of opti­cal glass. Only the lens at Makapu’u Point Light, Hawaii is larger.

Established in 1852, the Hog Island Light was located on the north side of the Great Machipongo Inlet on the Eastern Shore of Virginia until its demo­li­tion in 1948.

The restora­tion of the lens and the con­struc­tion of the pavil­ion were funded by the Portsmouth Museums Foundation, Inc. in coop­er­a­tion with the City of Portsmouth and the Fifth Coast Guard District. The ded­i­ca­tion cer­e­mony of the Fresnel Lens Pavilion took place on November 5, 2003.

My impres­sions: Well, I cer­tainly had no idea what a Fresnel lens was (even though I’d read sev­eral times that there was one on the water­front in Portsmouth). But, hav­ing lived in Central Canada all my life (with the largest nearby body of water being the Ottawa River), it is inter­est­ing to see all the his­tory around here that relates to liv­ing on the water.

Markeroni sta­tus: Once the data entry of the Path of History is com­plete, I’ll be log­ging my visit.