In 1801, the Second United States Congress authorized construction of the lighthouse on the Southern tip of Mathews County, Virginia at the convergence of the Chesapeake and Mobjack Bays to aid ships navigating into the York River and the Mobjack and Chesapeake Bays, and to Northern ports such as Washington and Baltimore. The lighthouse and several other structures were constructed on an island of more than 250 acres. The lighthouse began operations on January 17, 1805. Damaged during the War of 1812 and the Civil War, it was repaired each time and continued to operate as an offical aid to navigation until 1962.
The island and other structures no longer exist as a result of hurricanes and storms. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the lighthouse is in immediate danger of being lost, and the New Point Comfort Lighthouse Preservation Task Force was formed in 2001 to help the county develop a plan to save it. Working with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Task Force has developed a plan and begun to raise funding for a two-phase effort to safeguard and restore the lighthouse. Phase I is the construction of a new rock revetment to safeguard the lighthouse, and Phase II is the work to restore and preserve it. {Longitude 76°16"W, Latitude 37°18"N}