BALTIMORE LIGHT

Location: South entrance to Baltimore Channel, Chesapeake Bay, off the mouth of the Magothy River
Date Built: Commissioned 1908
Type of Structure: Caisson with octagonal brick dwelling / light tower
Height: 52 feet above mean high water
Characteristics: Flashing white with one red sector
Foghorn: Yes (initially a bell, replaced with a horn by 1923)
Builder: William H. Flaherty / U. S. Fidelity and Guarantee Co.
Appropriation: $120,000 +
Range: white ? 7 miles, red ? 5 miles
Status: Standing and Active

General Information:

This is one of the last lighthouses built on the Chesapeake Bay. The fact that it was built at all is a testimony to the importance of Baltimore as a commercial port. The original appropriation request to Congress for a light at this location was made in 1890 and $60,000 was approved four years later. However, bottom tests of proposed sites showed a 55 foot layer of semi-fluid mud before a sand bottom was hit. This extreme engineering challenge made construction of a light within the proposed cost impossible. An additional $60,000 was requested and finally appropriated in 1902. Even then, the project had to be re-bid because no contractor came forth within the allotted budget. Finally, the contract was awarded to William H. Flaherty (who had built the Solomon?s Lump and Smith Point lights). The materials were gathered and partially assembled at Lazaretto Point Depot, then towed to the site and lowered to the bottom in September 1902. As excavation progressed, heavy seas tilted the cylinder. Later on October 12th, a storm pushed it over so it lay on its side. At this point, the contractor ceased work. Instead of returning the following Spring, as planned, Flaherty defaulted and his company later went into receivership. The resulting legal problems further complicated the situation. It was not until the fall of 1905 that construction resumed under the guidance of the surety company - U. S. Fidelity and Guaranty Co. A pier was built around the sunken caisson to hold worker housing, and the huge amount of machinery needed to right the structure. By that time, many of the iron caisson plates were severely damaged and needed to be replaced. By 1907 the cylinder had been righted and work progressed. When completed, the caisson stood 82 feet below sea level, on top of 91 piles driven into the bottom. It was the tallest caisson light in the world at the time. The brick dwelling / light tower was constructed the following year and the light was outfitted with a fourth order Fresnel lens and commissioned October 1, 1908.

In 1923 the fog bell was replaced with a fog horn and the light was converted to run off acetylene. On May 1 of the same year, the light was automated and the keeper transferred to Point No Point Light.

In May 1964 the light was converted to run off power supplied by a small atomic reactor, making it the first nuclear-powered lighthouse in the world. This experiment only lasted a year and the concept was not pursued further.

The above was researched and drafted by Matthew B. Jenkins, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.

Lighthouse was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 2 December 2002.


BLAKISTONE ISLAND LIGHT

Name of Lighthouse: Blakistone Island
Location: Saint Clement?s Island, off Colton?s Point in the Potomac River
Date Built: 1851
Type of Structure: Brick keepers dwelling with lantern rising through the center of the roof
Builder: John Donahoo
Appropriation: $4,535
Status: No longer standing

General Information:

Blakistone Island was originally named Saint Clement?s Island and Saint Clements is the name it is known by now. This was the site of the landing of the ships the Arc of London and the Dove which brought the first English settlers to found the Maryland colony in 1634. A settlement was temporarily founded, but the colony was soon moved to Saint Mary?s City. At that time the Island was over 400 acres. The island was farmed for many years and was owned for a while by the Blakistone family, during which time it was temporarily re-named. After several years of receiving petitions for a light at the island Congress appropriated $3,500 in 1848. After a delay caused by problems gaining title to the land, construction bids were solicited. The low bidder was John Dohahoo, who was awarded the contract at a cost of $4,535. The structure was a two story brick dwelling, with a light tower rising from the ground through the center of the building, and sat on a two acre point of land at the southern tip of the island. The iron lantern sat on a base of sandstone. It was completed in December of 1851.

The light is particularly famous for an event that took place during the Civil War. In 1864 CSA Captain John Goldsmith, who had once owned the island himself, led a raiding party to the Island. The Confederates destroyed the lens and confiscated the oil, then intended to blow up the lighthouse. The keeper, Jerome McWilliams, whom Captain Goldsmith knew, was successful in convincing the raiders not to destroy the structure because his wife was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. He argued that leaving them homeless would threaten the lives of both her and the baby.

In 1919 the island was purchased by the U.S. Navy. Many of the trees and buildings were razed. Piers and a landing strip were built.

The light was fully automated in 1932 and left unattended. During the next couple decades it suffered a certain amount of decay through vandalism, time, and the elements.

On July 16, 1956 fire completely gutted the structure leaving only a burned, roofless, shell. To this day the fire?s cause is uncertain. However, considering it a hazard, the Navy soon demolished the remains. The Saint Clement?s Island Potomac River Museum now sits on the mainland across from the Island. In addition to exhibits on Maryland?s founding, the museum has a small exhibit on both the Blakistone and Rag Point Lights. They offer boat-rides to the Island during season. More information is available at: www.co.saint-marys.md.us/recreate/museum.htm

Researched and drafted by Matthew B. Jenkins, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.


BLOODY POINT BAR LIGHT

Location: Off the southern tip of Kent Island, MD, Chesapeake Bay
Date Built: Commissioned 1882
Type of Structure: Caisson with iron dwelling / tower (spark plug caisson)
Height: 54 feet above mean high water
Characteristics: Flashing white, with 2 red sectors
Foghorn: Yes ? horn backed up by a bell
Appropriation: $25,000
Range: white ? 9 miles, red ? 7 miles
Status: Standing and Active

General Information:

A light was requested for this location as early as 1868 to mark both the bar and the northern entrance to the Eastern Bay. It was also felt that it could also serve as a backup should the Thomas Point screw-pile light ever succumb to ice. However, Congress did not approve the funds until 1881. At that time $25,000 was appropriated for a caisson light similar to the one then under construction at Sharps Island. Construction began in June 1882 and was relatively uneventful. The light was commissioned October 1 of the same year. A fourth order Fresnel lens was exhibited.

In February 1883 a room was added to house a fog bell and striker.

The winter of 1882 ? 3 included several severe storms and the resulting scour caused the light to tilt noticeably just one year after its construction. Riprap stone was immediately set around the base to halt further scour. In 1884 more permanent fixes were made ? Sand was dredged from one side to bring the tower to a more upright position, then an apron of over 750 tons of stone was laid at the caisson base. The repair was successful, though a slight list still exists.

In 1960 a fire, which began in the equipment room, rapidly engulfed the light. The two Coast Guard attendants initially fought the blaze, then barely escaped with their lives before the large fuel tanks exploded. The structure was completely gutted and is now just an iron shell with a steel ladder inside for access to the lantern.

Researched and drafted by Matthew B. Jenkins, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.


BODKIN ISLAND / BODKIN POINT LIGHT

Name of Lighthouse: Bodkin Island / Bodkin Point
Location: Bodkin Island off Bodkin Point, southern side of the entrance to the Patapsco River
Date Built: 1823
Type of Structure: Conical stone tower
Height: 35'
Foghorn: No
Builder: Thomas Evans and William Coppeck
Appropriation: $5,200
Status: No longer standing

General Information:

In 1819 an act of Congress approved funding to place buoys in the Patapsco River and build lights at Bodkin Point, North Point, and Sparrows Point to aid shipping traffic to Baltimore. A survey of possible sites was made and a certain amount of trouble encountered gaining title to the land. Six acres of Bodkin Island, were eventually purchased for $600. Bids were solicited and the contract was awarded to Thomas Evans and William Coppeck under the charge of U. S. Naval Officer William Barney. Problems with both the contractors ability and character were encountered during the construction. However, it appears that the 35' stone tower and small, one-story, keepers dwelling were completed by Evans and Coppeck in October of 1821. Thirteen lamps were procured from Winslow Lewis and installed shortly thereafter. The light commissioned in January 1822.

John Donahoo of Havre de Grace, MD, worked on a bulkhead at the light and may have made later repairs to the structures, both of which had poor foundations.

In 1851 the station was one of many lights castigated in a Congressional audit of aids to navigation. The auditors found the light maintained by a blacksmith and his family who kept it in filthy, sooty condition.

In 1856 the completion of Seven Foot Knolls Light obviated the need for the Bodkin Island Light and the station was decommissioned. The keepers dwelling was inhabited by a fisherman for some time and later abandoned. In 1914 the tower collapsed. Since that then the 20+ acre island has been reclaimed by the bay.

Researched and drafted by Matthew B. Jenkins, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.


CEDAR POINT LIGHT

Status: No longer standing


CHOPTANK RIVER LIGHT

Name of Lighthouse: Choptank River
Location: Bernoni Point, just south of Oxford inside the Choptank River - entrance to the Tread Avon River and Island Creek
Date Built: First structure 1871, Second structure 1921
Type of Structure: screw-pile
Foghorn: Bell
Builder: First structure - Francis A. Gibbons
Appropriation:
Status: No longer standing

General Information:

A contract to build a screw-pile lighthouse at Bernoni Point in the Choptank River was awarded to Francis A. Gibbons in late 1870. At about this time lightship #25, a wooden schooner that had served as a lightship on the bay since 1827, was anchored at the site and remained there until construction of the station was completed. The Choptank River Light was commissioned in December 1871. The design of this first light was similar to the one at York Spit, Virginia. A hexagonal cottage sat upon ten pilings sleeved with iron. Six of these supported the light, with the remaining four designed to protect the others. The lantern was outfitted with a 6th order Fresnel lens.

In 1881 during a bad freeze ice piled up against the lighthouse shaking the foundation, cracking some of the pilings, and tilting the dwelling slightly. The keeper abandoned the station. When it was later determined that the damage was not to the supporting piles he was asked to resign.

In 1881 the lens was upgraded to a 5th order Fresnel lens.

In January 1918 the first light structure was destroyed by ice flows that climbed 30 feet around the structure, eventually knocking the dwelling off its pilings.

Some thought was given to replacing the light with a hybrid design consisting of a caisson foundation topped by a screw-pile-type cottage. This was deemed too costly and the superstructure from the decommissioned Cherry Stone lighthouse in Virginia was moved to the site and erected atop a new screw-pile foundation. The light was re-commissioned in 1921. This is the only lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay to have been replaced with an existing lighthouse from another location.

In 1964 the cottage was dismantled.

Researched and drafted by Matthew B. Jenkins, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.


CLAY ISLAND LIGHT

Status: No longer standing


COBB ISLAND BAR / COB POINT BAR LIGHT

Name of Lighthouse: Cob Island Bar / Cob Point Bar
Location: Potomac River marking the west side of the entrance of the Wicomico River
Date Built: 1889
Type of Structure: Square screw-pile
Height: 40 feet above mean high water
Foghorn: Fog bell
Appropriation: $15,000
Status: No longer standing

General Information:

A number of new screw-pile lighthouses were built on the Potomac River during the final 25 years of the 19th century. This was due both to increased shipping traffic and the an increased size and draft of the vessels traveling up and down the river. At this time a number of steam ship lines operated on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. These carried cargo and passengers on regularly scheduled routes, much as the airlines do today. Three steamship lines in addition to numerous smaller vessels made regular stops up the Wicomico River which was known for having a narrow and tricky channel at its entrance. Formal requests for a light at Cob Island Bar (a.k.a. Cob Point Bar) began in 1875 and the request was renewed in 1885 and again in 1887. At that time Congress appropriated $15,000 for the light. Construction of the square, screw-pile, light was delayed until November 1889. The materials were gathered and the cottage was pre-fabricated at Lazaretto Depot using the same plans as the light at Tangier Sound in Virginia. These were brought to the site in November and the light was erected in a little over a month. It was commissioned on Christmas Day, December 25, 1889 and exhibited a fourth order Fresnel lens.

In 1939 the lighthouse caught fire and was so badly damaged that the remains had to be torn down. It was replaced by a bell and automated light.

Researched and drafted by Matthew B. Jenkins, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.


CONCORD POINT LIGHT

Location: Waterfront, Havre de Grace, MD, marking the meeting of the Susquehanna River and the northern tip of the Chesapeake Bay.
Date Built: Commissioned 1827
Type of Structure: Stone tower with detached keepers dwelling
Height: 38 feet above mean high water
Characteristics: Fixed white light privately shown (not an active ATON)
Foghorn: No
Builder: John Donahoo
Appropriation: $4,000
Range: 8 miles
Status: Standing, but Decommissioned

General Information:

Congress initially appropriated $2,500 for construction and outfitting of a light and keepers dwelling at Concord Point. After a fair amount of difficulty, the government gained title to a small plot of land for the tower in 1826. However, due to commercial use of the waterfront, land for the keepers dwelling had to be purchased further inland. The appropriation proved inadequate, and another $1,500 was added the next year. John Donahoo, who had built other Bay lights and was also a native of Havre de Grace, was the low bidder at $3,500 and was awarded the contract. ($493 went for purchase and setup of the lighting apparatus.) Both the conical stone tower, built of Port Deposit granite and coated with ?Roman cement?, and a one story keepers dwelling were completed by November of 1827. The original lighting apparatus consisted of 9 lamps, each with a 16 inch reflector.

The first keeper was an Irish immigrant named John O?Neill who was appointed by President John Quincy Adams. O?Neill was a local hero. During the War of 1812, as a local militia lieutenant he had single-handedly manned 3 cannons in the face of a British bombardment after the 50 men he was in charge of fled. Eventually he, too, had to flee the approaching British, firing back at them with his musket as he retreated. Several of O?Neill?s descendents followed in his footsteps as keepers of this light.

In 1855 the original lamps and reflectors were replaced with a steamer?s lens.

In 1869 a sixth order Fresnel lens was exhibited. The lantern was also replaced with a more modern design either at this time, or a year or two before.

In 1884 the keepers dwelling was expanded with the addition of a second story.

In 1891 the sixth order lens was replaced by a fifth order Fresnel lens.

In 1920 the light was electrified and the keepers dwelling sold. (It became an inn for a while.)

In 1975 the light was decommissioned by the Coast Guard and the Fresnel lens was stolen. Four years later, local citizens formed the Friends of Concord Point Lighthouse and took over maintenance of this historic landmark. The tower has been restored and is now open to the public on a seasonal basis. They have also bought the keepers dwelling and plans are going forward to restore it. The (unrelated) Havre de Grace Maritime Museum is set to open its new facility half a block up the road in June of 2001.

Researched and drafted by Matthew B. Jenkins, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.


COVE POINT LIGHT

Location: Western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, 4 miles north of the entrance to the Patuxent River
Date Built: Commissioned December 1828
Type of Structure: Conical brick tower with detached keeper?s dwelling
Height: 38 feet
Characteristics: Flashing white
Foghorn: Yes
Builder: John Donahoo
Appropriation: $6,000
Range: 19 miles
Status: Standing and Active

General Information:

An appropriation request was made to Congress in 1925 for a light to mark Cedar Point ? the entrance to the Patuxent River. After surveys of the area were made, it was recommended that the light should be built at Cove Point, four miles further north, and used in conjunction with a light vessel at Cedar Point. This would allow it to guide both north and south-bound vessels while also marking the river. In February of 1828 Congress appropriated $6,000. The four and a half acres at Cove Point were purchased for $300 and John Donahoo was awarded the construction contract. Work began on the brick tower and keepers dwelling that summer. Like other Donahoo lights, Cove point is a conical tower. It has three small windows and is surmounted by a cast iron, circular lantern. The tower contains a wooden spiral staircase fitted into the brick. It also incorporates a counterweight shaft that runs from the lantern to the ground. The light which consisted of 11 parabolic reflector lamps, was first exhibited in December 1828.

A fog bell tower was added in the 1830s

In June of 1855 the original lamps were replaced and a fifth order Fresnel lens installed.

In 1883 a second story was added to the keepers dwelling.

Shore erosion has been a continual threat to this light. In 1892 the fog bell tower had to be moved inland and a substantial sea wall was installed.

The old fog bell tower was replaced in 1897 with a steel tower. That tower, however, did not last long as the bell was replaced in 1901 by a newer siren.

In 1899 the light was electrified (though not fully until 1907) and the fifth order lens was replaced by a new fourth order Fresnel lens. Both this lens and the original counterweight system are still functional and in the tower.

In 1953 the lighthouse tower was surfaced with cement.

In 1976 a diaphone fog signal was installed that is automatically activated when fog is sensed.

The light was completely automated in 1986 and a computerized link established to the Coast Guard in Baltimore, MD. However, the keeper?s dwelling continued to be used by the Coast Guard as staff housing (greatly contributing to the safety of the light).

In 2000 the facility was turned over to the Calvert Marine Museum, of Solomons, MD, who now offer trips to the light that depart from the Museum. More information is available at: www.calvertmarinemuseum.com (Note: The surrounding area is a private community and visitors are not permitted to drive directly to the light.). It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Researched and drafted by Matthew B. Jenkins, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.


THE FOUR CRAIGHILL CHANNEL RANGE LIGHTS

Range lights are used in pairs to mark a channel. Each one of the pair supports a light of different heights. When the two lights are aligned one is in the channel. Named after an engineer and longtime member of the lighthouse board, Craighill Channel cuts roughly five miles off the southern approach to Baltimore, entering Brewerton Channel (the main Patapsco River / Baltimore channel). As a major segment of the approach to the commercial ports of Baltimore this was a very important channel and the need to use it at night was acutely felt. The four Craighill Channel range lighthouses are really two separate ranges built a bit over ten years apart. The older and larger pair is the Lower Range and its construction coincided with a major dredging and enlarging of the Channel in 1870.

The following four lights were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 2 December 2002.

Craighill Channel Lower Range ? Front and Rear Lights
Location: Entrance to the Patapsco River, MD, Chesapeake Bay
Date Built: Commissioned 1873 (using temporary lights), Fully completed in 1875
Type of Structure: Rear light ? Pyramidal iron frame surrounding a plate-encased stairway leading to double-decked lantern. Front light ? caisson with circular dwelling / tower.
Height: Rear light - 105 feet, Front light ? 39 feet (main light), 22 feet ? range.
Characteristics: Fixed white for both range lights, The front light also has a flashing white main light with one red sector.
Range: 16 miles
Status: Standing and Active

General Information:

An initial proposal for two screw-pile lights marking the Craighill Channel was made in 1870 and an initial appropriation of $45,000 was approved by Congress. However, a string of ice flow related problems with screw-piles in exposed locations caused the Board to re-think their plan, shifting to newer and more expensive technologies.

The Lower Range Front Light: To address the problems of ice in the open Bay, a caisson foundation was agreed upon and the Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light became the first caisson lighthouse to be built in the United States. The composition of the bottom at the proposed site was problematic. Under 17 feet of water, a 22 foot layer of soft mud covered alternating layers of sand, mud, and shell. Tests indicated that the bottom was so soft that an ordinary pile would penetrate 20 feet under its own weight. This posed additional engineering challenge when it came to laying the foundation. The solution decided upon was to dredge ten feet down, then drive clusters of piles into the muddy bottom. These were cut off at 27 feet using a circular saw powered by a steam engine on the surface. The caisson was floated to the site filled with stone to lower it onto the pile-fortified bottom. An initial misalignment forced the engineers to re-float the caisson and lower it again. Concrete was then poured and to complete the process, several tons of riprap stone was laid around the base. Once the caisson foundation was completed in November of 1873, a temporary wooden tower was erected to house a Fourth order Fresnel lens. This was replaced the following year by the final, small, circular iron dwelling and light tower which was completed in October 1874. The octagonal main lantern housed a Fifth order Fresnel lens used for general navigation. A second, lower light, served as the Front range.

The Lower Range Rear Light: The location of the Rear Light had to be carefully set in relation to the Front light and a shoal near the end of Hart Island was chosen. The design for Rear Light is unique on the Chesapeake Bay. The bottom was found to consist of alternating layers of sand, stones, and mud, necessitating a more expensive foundation than originally planned. The water depth was only two feet, so a cofferdam was built, piles were driven, and nine granite supporting piers were laid August 1873. Upon these, a pyramidal, iron, skeleton structure was built which surrounded an enclosed stairway. The appropriation ran out, so a temporary light was exhibited while more funding was sought. When an additional $10,000 was appropriated, work resumed. A double-balconied lantern tops the tower (the lower balcony serving as a watch platform) and an unusual, Victorian, wooden dwelling with a pagoda-like curved roof with eight dormer windows was built within the base. The final construction was completed in March 1875 and a fourth order Fresnel lens was exhibited.

In 1877 the owner of the land opposite the Rear Light filed suit against the Government claiming that, because he had earlier been given the right to build a wharf in front of his property, he owned rights the land under the water on which the light stood. The court decided against him.

In August 1888 a storm tore the roof off the dwelling of the Rear Light in addition to doing some other damage.

In 1923 the Rear light was converted acetylene and was automated. For several years the Victorian dwelling was rented until 1938 when it was dismantled, leaving only the skeleton tower, lantern, and square stairway shaft.

The front light was used as a radio-telephone station by the Coast Guard, so was manned into the 1960s. It was finally automated in 1964. Both lights remain active aids to navigation.

Click here to access the National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light Station.

Click here to access the National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light Station.

PHOTOGRAPHS (click on light name below to access image):

CRAIGHILL CHANNEL LOWER RANGE REAR LIGHT; no photo number; "CRAIGHILL CHANNEL RANGE LIGHTS, MD.; FIFTH NAVAL DISTRICT (Norfolk), Rear Light"; no date (1912?); photographer unknown.

CRAIGHILL CHANNEL LOWER RANGE REAR LIGHT; No. CGX-031460-3; "Craighill Channel RR, Winter 1959-1960"; 14 March 1960; photographer unknown.
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