Today, New Point Lighthouse stands far, far from the mainland. It beckons visitors from a pile of rocks, reinforced at least twice in the past half century.

More than 100 years ago, the lighthouse stood on solid land … so much land, in fact, that an extensive subdivision was planned around it, and lots were sold.

The New Point Corporation purchased 200 acres of sandy beach around the lighthouse in 1904. A map found in Deed Book 13 in the Mathews Clerk’s Office shows a surrounding development of hundreds of lots and an imposing Hygeia Hotel, honoring the goddess of health.

The development never took place, the property changed hands several times, and today the whole parcel is part of the waters making up the meeting place of Chesapeake and Mobjack bays. Nothing to build on, and much to restore, including the lighthouse which is the only survivor of that plan. ...