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2021 Preservation Schedule

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Workday: Thomas Point Lighthouse – August 21 &22, 2020

Thomas Point in August of 2020

Even with the curtailed tours and preservation events Thomas Point Lighthouse has been getting some TLC this season.  As John Potvin, Lighthouse Manager and Director of Preservation for the Thomas Point restoration efforts reports, work resumed in May to replace the steel beams and tie rods for the under-structure. This work was done by contractor …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-thomas-point-workday-august-21-22-2020/

Lighthouse Histories Workday: At Home on a date and time of your choice!

Preservation Work From Home If you’re a Chapter member we already know you love lighthouses. But if you are also a history buff and you’re looking for something to do while at home we have a tailor made project for you. Several years ago the Chapter had a project to help update the lighthouse histories …

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Workday: Concord Point Lighthouse – June 27, 2019

Hobie and Tony painting at Concord Point.

Volunteers Tony Pasek and Hobie Statzer had a very productive work day on June 27 providing a little TLC to the Concord Point Lighthouse. They were met and assisted by Friends volunteer Floyd Dobson and later meet a new volunteer Sarah Casper-Woodhead, who visited them at the top of the lighthouse and later took some …

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Workday: Concord Point – May 14, 2019

Concord Point - looking good!

On May 14, Hobie Statzer and Tony Pasek visited Havre de Grace and gave the Friends of Concord Point Lighthouse a hand with a brick pathway leading to the tower. The weather was fairly good for this type of work with temperatures in the 60 and overcast. They leveled approximately 20 bricks that had settled …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-concord-point-may-14-2019/

Workday: Historic Ships in Baltimore – May 11, 2019

Lightship Chesapeake

It was a nice day with temperatures in the 60s with a slight threat of rain as three volunteers met for the first of our work days on the Lightship Chesapeake in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The harbor was crowded with tourists once the day got under way. We started off by scraping off the flaking …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-historic-ships-in-baltimore-may-11-2019/

Workday: Calvert Marine Museum – April 26, 2019

Work Crew before we started.

Chapter volunteers had a short workday down at Calvert Marine Museum. It was a bright and beautiful day with temperatures in the 60s and no threat of rain. We had seven volunteers and our task was to remove the wooden slats around the pavilion that houses the memorial bricks. In the past the pavilion also …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-calvert-marine-museum-april-26-2019/

Crossed-the-Bar • Jerry Waters • 1943- 2019

On Thursday March 28th the Chapter lost a great friend and one of its founding members. Jerry Waters passed away after a brief hospitalization. Jerry was one of our earliest Chapter members and was a key member of the Chapter Board, serving as the Treasurer for many years. He was involved in many of the …

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Workday: Historic Ships in Baltimore – Nov. 17, 2018

Heidi, Jeff and Donna Removing Paint from Range Light

The final work day for the season was a bright crisp November day. There were remnants of the first snow of the season in the shadowy corners of some buildings, but there was no threat of snow or rain on this last preservation weekend of 2018. We had seven volunteers show up for the annual …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-historic-ships-in-baltimore-nov-17-2018/

Workday: Historic Ships in Baltimore – Oct 27, 2018

Lightship Chesapeake in Baltimore's Inner Harbor

We had a small crew on a blustery cold late October Saturday. There are a lot of changes going on in the Harbor. Our favorite parking garage was sold by the city and the rates increased dramatically and our main restaurant of choice has closed. However, we have a new favorite parking garage that is …

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Workday: Thomas Point Lighthouse – October 13, 2018

It was a productive day out at Thomas Point with a small crew of six.  Volunteers patched some holes and  worked on the floor molding on the 2nd floor. They also completed the removal of the carpet tiles on the second floor. The stove pipes were also scraped and the openings down in the kitchen …

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Timeline: Bowlers Rock Lighthouse

1835: Lightship LV “O” is stationed in the Upper Rappahannock River approximately 8-1/2 miles downstream from the town of Tappahannock to mark a rock on the east side of the channel. 1861: Lightship LV “O” is captured by Confederate forces. 1864: Lightship LV-28 is stationed to replace the previous ship that was captured. 1867: The …

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Timeline: Bells Rock Lighthouse

Timeline: 1880:  Congress appropriates $35,000 to construct a lighthouse at Bells Rock on June 16th. 1881: The first lighthouse is completed at Lazaretto Depot in Maryland on November 26, 1880, but instead is used in the rebuilding of the Thimble Shoal Light, which burned down. 1880: Iron work for the second lighthouse is manufactured by …

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Timeline: Back River Lighthouse

Timeline: Back River Lighthouse 1829:   A 30-foot-tall, conical, whitewashed brick lighthouse with ten oil lamps and ten reflectors and one-story keeper’s dwelling is constructed for just under $5,000 by Winslow Lewis between Back River entrance & the Grandview area of Hampton, Virginia. 1855:   Installation of a new revolving machine containing six, twenty-one-inch parabolic reflectors & …

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Timeline: Upper Cedar Point Lighthouse

Timeline: A screwpile lighthouse located on the Potomac River in Maryland 2 miles west of Mathias Point. 1867: A white, square, screwpile lighthouse was constructed to replace lightships. It was equipped with a 5th order Franklin type Fresnel lens and hand operated fog bell. 1867: Keeper James Treakle complained that the boat was too large …

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Workday: Historic Ships In Baltimore – June 2, 2018

Rob passes up wood from the lower - lower area to Lauren and Paula for removal.

We had a small crew of five on the Lightship Chesapeake in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for our second workday there in 2018. It was no surprise that it was overcast and threatening rain all day – that seems to be the standard forecast for the last couple of weeks.  The threat of rain dissuaded us …

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Workday: Thomas Point Workdays May 2018

Thomas Point Lighthouse

The 2018 Thomas Point Preservation season has begun.  The weekend work days are listed on the bottom of this post. A small group of volunteers headed out in early May followed by a larger group in the middle of the month. One of the first tasks was to complete work started last year and also …

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Workday: Historic Ships In Baltimore – May 5, 2018

Lightship Chesapeake in Baltimore's Inner Habor

It was a warm overcast day with summer-like temperatures. We had a crew of seven chapter volunteers who went to work on the lightship Chesapeake in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Our first task was to scrape a lot of the peeling paint form the ceilings in the forward exhibit area as well as the Ward room. …

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Workday: Concord Point Workday – May 2, 2018

Photo by Tony Pasek: Concord Point Lighthouse

Chapter members Hobie Statzer and Tony Pasek went up to Concord Point on May 2nd to help the folks at Concord Point Lighthouse with a few tasks that needed to be done. They installed approximately 55 memorial bricks in the Legacy pathway on one side of the lighthouse tower. Tony and Hobie worked with three …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workdayconcord-point-workday-may-2-2018/

Workday: Calvert Marine Museum – April 21, 2018

Picture perfect day at Cove Point.

We had a nice size work crew for our first preservation event of 2018. I was a little more worried than usual this time because it has been hard to tell what the weather will be on any given day this year – and a lot of the work we wanted to do was outdoors. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-calvert-marine-museum-april-21-2018/

Timeline: Windmill Point Lighthouse

(Located at the end of a long shoal on the north side of the entrance to the Rappahannock River, VA – 03/31/18) 1834 First Lightship at location. 1869 Last lightship on site. White hexagonal cottage screw pile built at Lazaretto Depot in Baltimore. Towed on two schooners to site 120 miles south. Fitted with 5th-order …

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Timeline: Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse

(Located on a shoal off the mouth of Old Plantation Creek near the start of the channel leading to the town of Cape Charles, VA – 03-31-18) 1886 White rectangular cottage built on a combination of screw piles and concrete pilons. Fitted with 4th-order Fresnel lens. 1894 Charles Edwin Respess serves as keeper. 1896 Lighthouse …

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If You Think This is Cold – Icy Days on The Bay

Photo by Larry Liebrecht Ice chokes the Potomac in front of Ft. Washington Lighthouse

As the cold weather settles over much of the country have you been daydreaming of warmer weather and maybe the quiet life of a lighthouse Keeper from days past? The allure of lighthouses often contains romanticized visions of existence in pristine, wild places with Keepers filling free time with fishing or watching the boats go …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/if-you-think-this-is-cold-icy-days-on-the-bay/

Workday: Historic Ships in Baltimore – November 18, 2017

Greg, Paula and Heidi work on range light.

It was a busy day on our last workday in Baltimore for 2017.  Nine Chapter volunteers gathered on the Lightship Chesapeake on a chilly Saturday in November and got to work on several different tasks. The ladders to the wheel house and fly bridge were removed and the bulkheads were cleaned and vacuumed. This was …

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Workday: Thomas Point July 12, 21, and 22, 2017

Cathy & Captain Howard work on new cupola railing

As summer continues hot and humid our intrepid band of volunteers continues to toil away at one of our favorite National Treasures. Volunteers made three trips in July to keep our beacon looking good.   On July 12th six volunteers went out on the hot, humid, hazy day to work on the light. They continued …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-thomas-point-july-12-21-and-22-2017/

Workday: Thomas Point Lighthouse – June 20, 2017

This past month, on the June 20th volunteers spent some time preparing the light for the first visitors of the season. They swept and vacuumed the floors and the scrap lumber from the woodworkers’ projects and from the railing work up top was gathered up and removed. While the light was being readied for visitors, other …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-thomas-point-lighthouse-june-20-2017/

Workday: Historic Ships in Baltimore – June 3, 2017

Lightship Chesapeake in Baltimore's Inner Habor

We had a crew of six for our early June workday up in Baltimore. We finished up the work on the main bins down in the lathe room. We also cleaned, scraped and primed the doors to the Drill Press and work room below deck. A fourth coat of white paint was applied to the display …

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Workday: Thomas Point May 17, 2017

Virginia Crespo gives wood a coat of primer.

A group of six Volunteers had a good day at Thomas Point Lighthouse on May 17, 2017. Though it was warm – upper 80s the humidity wasn’t bad and the bay was mostly calm. Volunteers dispersed around the light to attend to a variety of tasks. A couple of volunteers continued work on the posts and railings …

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Workday: Concord Point – May 10, 2017

Friends volunteers (from Left) - Barbara, John & Bethany help install the new bricks.

Two Chapter volunteers headed up to Concord Point to join volunteers with the Friends of Concord Point LH to remove sixty-eight bricks on the pathway and installed an equal number of memorial bricks. With four people the work went much quicker than the commute! Next time you are up at Concord Point, take some time to look at …

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Workday: Historic Ships in Baltimore – May 6, 2017

Greg tightening the screw holding the block.

For our second workday up in Baltimore we had a crew of six Chapter volunteers. It was an overcast day with intermittent showers. The weather held long enough for the work on the repairs to the door to the half deck to be completed. Later in the day the interior side was painted. Maybe next …

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Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-historic-ships-in-baltimore-april-6-2017/