Jordan Point Lighthouse

This was one of the four James River lighthouses built in 1854-1855 with their lights first exhibited February 7, 1855

The land at Jordan’s Point was owned by Mr. & Mrs. Bland. They ceded land for the lighthouse directly to the Federal Government in 1853. It’s interesting to note that Mr. Bland was also the first light keeper at Jordan’s Point.

The lighthouse was a keeper’s quarters with the lantern mounted on the roof, fitted with a steamship, pressed glass lens.

The light was taken down by Confederate troops in 1861 and it remained dark through the Civil War until it was reestablished with a sixth order lens in 1865.

In 1875 a new wooden tower was built to house a bell and the lantern. The keeper’s quarters were rebuilt and the lantern removed from the roof. The bell was fitted with a Stevens bell mechanism.

In 1886 a new keeper’s quarters was built, replacing the 1855 structure which was in bad repair and threatened by erosion.

The site was subject to continuing erosion problems until the lighthouse was discontinued and the keeper’s dwelling was sold in 1927. The small plot of land with the wooden lantern tower was retained.

In 1941, a steel tower was erected mounted with a range light.

The site is now (2020) at the southern foot of the Benjamin Harrison Bridge. A private dwelling is located there. The Coast Guard maintains a range light at the point mounted on a steel tower

Jordan’s Point Lighthouse Keepers:

Theodoris Bland (1855 – 1859)

George W. Harrison (1859 – )

Charles W. Topping (1865 – 1867)

William A. Wood (1867)

W. Thompson (1867 – 1868)

William H. Baldwin (1868 – 1878)

D. Batts (1878 – 1879)

B.F. Topping (1879 – 1880)

Edward D. Bland (1880 – 1881)

W.H. Moody (1881 – 1882)

E.D. Bland (1882 – 1883)

William H. Moody (1883 – 1884)

E.D. Bland (1884 – 1885)

William Dabney (1885 – 1887)

John H. Knowles, Jr. (1887)

Thomas E. Fenner (1887 – at least 1921).