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Visit a section of river between Wilson Bridge and Colonial Farm...
Jones Point Lighthouse
Fort Foote
Dyke Marsh
Fort Washington
National Colonial Farm
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In the late 1700s, Alexandria was a bustling seaport, shipping tobacco and later, wheat, to other U.S. ports and Europe. By the early 1850s, it was the third-largest port in the Chesapeake region. In 1856, the Jones Point lighthouse was built, shining a white light from the tower atop the house. The light, 17 feet above the water, was visible for 9 miles, protecting ships approaching the city's wharves from sandbars, tides and winter ice. The sperm oil lamp was replaced by gas in 1858, and changed to a red oil lamp in 1900.
In 1926, a fixed green light was placed on a 60-foot steel tower erected on the river's edge replaced the lighthouse, but a keeper remained on watch at the site until 1934. Deactivation of the light occurred in 1962, with mariners using the navigation lights installed on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Over the years the lighthouse fell victim to vandalism, erosion and decay.
The lighthouse's exterior has been restored through the efforts of the National Park Service and the Mt. Vernon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
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