(Located on the westerly point of the shoals to the west of Hooper Island and on the eastern side of the Bay – exactly halfway up the Chesapeake Bay)
1901 Construction of caisson with iron and brick dwelling constructed in 18 feet of water using pneumatic process begins (one of seven bay lights built using this method). Five tiers made of cast-iron and brick rises 63 feet above the water.
1902 Construction completed. Exhibits flashing white light from 4th –order Fresnel lens. Fog bell, manufactured in Baltimore also installed. Diamond-shaped storm panels installed in lantern room.
1904 Characteristic changed to fixed white. Later returned to flashing white.
Late 1930s Generator system installed to power an air diaphragm foghorn. Fog bell retained as a backup.
1961 Automation.
1976 4th-order Fresnel lens stolen, replaced with modern, acrylic light.
2002 Lighthouse placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
2006 Light station declared “excess property” by the Department of Interior & GSA and becomes available for transfer or sale under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. Light remains active.
2007 U.S. Lighthouse Society responds to the National Park Service application request for the transfer of the lighthouse to a non-profit organization
May 2009 U. S. Lighthouse Society receives official notice that they had been awarded the lighthouse and preservation work begins.
2022 Richard Cuce’, of Pennsylvania, purchases the lighthouse in a GSA online auction at a price of $192,000. His plans are to restore the lighthouse.
Sources: Bay Beacons by Linda Turbyville, U.S. Coast Guard website and Hooper Island Lighthouse website (www.hooperislandlighthouse.org)
Revised 8-JUL-2010
