Note to Our Visitors: The Cape Henry Lighthouse is located within Fort Story military base. To visit the lighthouse, you must pass through the security gates of Fort Story. Please have identification including a picture with you for all visitors aged 16 years or older. This ID should be a student or state or Federal issued ID card. The security personnel have the right to examine your car before issuing a pass to enter the military base and visit the lighthouse. While we apologize for the inconvenience, we respect the military's interest in force protection. The security guards are courteous and efficient, but please allow a few extra minutes for entry into the site. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
For your safety and comfort, please observe the following rules for climbing the Cape Henry Lighthouse:
You must be at least 42" tall to climb the lighthouse.
Children may not be carried up the steps.
Backpacks and frontpacks are not allowed on the staircase.
Using the Aquia stone remaining from the first attempted construction of a lighthouse, McComb revised his plans for the foundation and went 20 feet below sea level rather than the 13 feet originally specified. The base diameter also increased from 27 feet, 6 inches to 33 feet. McComb laid the eleven-feet-thick exterior wall in a circular design for the first four feet. The remaining 92 feet of the tower to the lantern, laid in Rappahannock freestone, rose forming an octagonal truncated pyramid. The lantern rose 13 feet high from its base to the top of the roof. McComb estimated completion of the project by 1 October 1792.
