August 22, 2014

1201 UNITED STATES (Virginia) - Assateague Lighthouse


Located on the southern end of Assateague Island (a 60 km long barrier island located off the eastern coast of Delmarva Peninsula) off the coast of the Virginia Eastern Shore, within the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Assateague Lighthouse is owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and is still used as an active aid in navigation. Conical in shape and painted in alternating bands of red and white, it has a base of over 9m and a height of  43m. A cast iron stairway reaches the existing electric revolving light which can be seen for 19 nautical miles. Was constructed in 1867 to replace a shorter lighthouse built in 1833.

About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting the Lighthouse in Portsmouth Harbor (New Castle, NH), is part of the Forever series New England Coastal Lighthouses, about which I wrote here. About the second stamp, featuring a portrait of George Washington, I wrote here.The last stamp is part of a set of four stamps with the theme Kaleidoscope Flowers, issued on January 13, 2013.

References
Assateague, VA - Lighthouse Friends
Assateague Light - Wikipedia

Sender: Cathy / petrini1 (postcrossing)
Sent from Chincoteague (Virginia / United States), on 09.08.2014
Photo: Andrea Jauck

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