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Timeline: Piney Point Lighthouse
1836 Thirty-four foot tall brick lighthouse and Keepers’ dwelling built by John Donahoo of Havre de Grace, MD for $3,888. 1855 Old reflecting apparatus consisting of 10 lamps and 10 15-inch reflectors replaced with a 5th order Fresnel lens. Range increased to 11 miles. 1880 Thirty foot tall bell tower added to the light station …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-piney-point-lighthouse/
Timeline: Hooper Strait Lighthouse
(Located on the grounds of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St.Michael’s, MD) 1827 Light station established. Several lightships in service. 1867 First screwpile built on north side of the entrance into Tangier Sound, marking the shoal on the north side of the channel between the mainland and Bloodsworth Island. 1877 Screwpile carried away and destroyed …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-hooper-strait-lighthouse/
Timeline: Hooper Island Lighthouse
(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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-hooper-island-lighthouse/
Timeline: Holland Island Bar Lighthouse
(Located west of Holland Island, north of Smith Island, approx. 12 miles from mainland.) 1889 Hexagonal one and a half story cottage screwpile (similar to Drum Point LH) built at Lazaretto Depot and towed to site on Tangier Sound. Exhibits a fixed white light from a 4th order Fresnel lens. Fog bell also installed. 1905 …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-holland-island-bar-lighthouse/
Timeline: Fort Washington Lighthouse
(Located at Fort Washington Park, Fort Washington, MD – Prince Georges County -revised 09/02/08) 1857 Light station – 18 1⁄2 foot cast-iron column with small light established at the intersection of the Potomac River w/ Swan and Piscataway Creeks. 1870 Small tower with 6th-order lens built. 1882 Present structure – 32 foot pyramidal wooden fog …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-fort-washington-lighthouse/
Timeline: Fishing Battery Lighthouse
(Located on Fishing Battery Island, 2.5 miles below the entrance to the Susquehanna River, Havre de Grace, MD) 1853 Construction of 32-foot tall, integral one and a half story brick lighthouse/dwelling built by John Donahoo. This was his last of 13 lighthouses. Fitted with 5 lamps and reflectors. 1855 Fitted with 6th-order Fresnel lens. 1864 …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-fishing-battery-lighthouse/
Timeline: Point No Point Lighthouse
(Located six miles north of Point Lookout and nine miles south by southwest of Hooper Island Light) 1902 Construction begins on wooden caisson by Toomey Brothers of New York. 1903 Temporary pier collapses; caisson breaks apart in gale force winds and drifts down the bay, settling near the Rappahannock River, 40 miles south of construction …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-point-no-point-lighthouse/
Workday: Thomas Point Light April 20, 2013
Thomas Point as we leave April 20, 2013 It was a big work crew this time out. It was a very breezy and chilly morning as 15 Chesapeake Chapter volunteers headed out to the iconic lighthouse. Transportation was provided by Capt. Howard Lewis aboard the Audacious. Volunteers were all over the light. A piece …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/workday-thomas-point-light-april-20-2013/
Timeline: Point Lookout Lighthouse
1830 One and one half story integral lighthouse built at the mouth of the Potomac River by John Donahoo of Havre De Grace, MD. James Davis serves as first keeper but dies within months of taking office. 1862 Hammond General Hospital established near lighthouse. 1863 Camp Hoffman (Union Prisoner of War Camp …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-point-lookout-lighthouse/
Timeline: Cedar Point Lighthouse
(One of the shorter-lived lighthouse on the Bay) 1896: Three-story cottage-style structure of wood & brick with a square white tower attached to one corner built on a peninsula near the entrance to the Patuxent River. October 31, 1896: Fourth-order Fresnel lens flashing red at five-second intervals is lit. 1907: First erosion control project initiated. …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-cedar-point-lighthouse/
Timeline: Drum Point Lighthouse
(Located on grounds of Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, MD) 1883 Forty-six foot tall, white hexagonal 1 1⁄2 story cottage on seven wrought-iron screwpiles constructed on the north side of the mouth of the Patuxent River in ten to twelve feet of water, 70 feet offshore. Exhibited a fixed red light with 4th-order Fresnel lens. 1933 …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-drum-point-lighthouse/
Timeline: Cove Point Lighthouse
(Located four miles north of the entrance of Patuxent River, Calvert County, MD. Oldest continuously operating lighthouse in MD- Revised 04/02/18) 1828 Forty-foot tall masonry tower marking the shoal that extends offshore near Calvert Cliffs, MD and detached keepers dwelling built by John Donahoo. Fitted with eleven lamps and 18” reflectors. James Somerville appointed first …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-cove-point-lighthouse/
Timeline: Concord Point Lighthouse
(Northernmost Maryland Lighthouse – located on Susquehanna River in town of Havre de Grace, MD) 1827 Thirty-eight and a half foot tall conical tower of Port Deposit granite and detached keepers’ dwelling built on nearby separate land parcel by John Donahoo. 1827 John O’Neill, local hero from the War of 1812 appointed first keeper. 1855 …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-concord-point-lighthouse/
Timeline: Blackistone Island Lighthouse
(Located on the southern tip of St. Clement’s Island, St. Mary’s County, MD, on the mouth of the St. Marys’ River on the Potomac River. AKA Blakistone Island – revised 5/27/2020) 1851: Two-story brick dwelling with an integral tower built on Blackistone Island by John Donahoo. 2nd last lighthouse built by Donahoo. 1857: Tower …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-blackistone-island-lighthouse/
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timelinebloody-point-lighthouse/
Timeline: Baltimore Lighthouse
(Last conventional lighthouse built on the Chesapeake Bay) 1890: The Lighthouse Board requests $60,000 for a lighthouse to mark the entrance to the Baltimore Channel at the mouth of the Magothy River. 1894: Congress appropriates $60,000 on August 18, 1894. 1895: Test borings reveal 55 feet of soft mud before reaching the sand, which causes …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/timeline-baltimore-lighthouse/
Work Day at Drum Point Lighthouse April 13, 2013
Five volunteers arrived at Calvert Marine museum and received instructions for the day. We were to work on the five benches that have sat under the Drum Point Lighthouse for over 20 years. Richard Dodds had already started the work and we picked up where he’d left off. The day started out warm and sunny. …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/work-day-at-drum-point-lighthouse-april-13-2013/
Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Lighthouse
The excavation of Baltimore Harbor in the early 1800s was one of the greatest achievements of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, boosting Baltimore into one of the largest ports in the United States. Craighill Channel, named after William Price Craighill, (an Army engineer, and a longtime member of the Lighthouse Board), was used …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/craighill-channel-lower-range-rear-lighthouse/
Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Lighthouse
The excavation of Baltimore Harbor in the early 1800s was one of the greatest achievements of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, boosting Baltimore into one of the largest ports in the United States. Craighill Channel, named after William Price Craighill, (an Army engineer, and a longtime member of the Lighthouse Board), was used …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/craighill-channel-lower-range-front-lighthouse/
Craighill Channel Upper Range Front Lighthouse
In 1885, nearly ten years after the completion of the Craighill Channel Lower Range Lights, money was requested to construct another set of range lights to mark the new cut-off channel that connected the Craighill and Brewerton Channels. This cutoff also shortened the route by several miles. Construction of the upper and rear range …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/craighill-channel-upper-range-front-lighthouse/
Craighill Channel Upper Range Rear Lighthouse
In 1885, nearly ten years after the completion of the Craighill Channel Lower Range Lights, money was requested to construct another set of range lights to mark the new cut-off channel that connected the Craighill and Brewerton Channels. This cutoff also shortened the route by several miles. Construction of the upper and rear range lights …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/craighill-channel-upper-range-rear-lighthouse/
Blakistone Island Lighthouse
Blakistone Island Light was once located on Blackston Island. Today the island is better known as St. Clement’s Island. The island is only 5 miles downriver from Cobb Point Bar light. Congress appropriated $3,500 in 1848 for the lighthouse construction. John Donahoo was awarded the contract at a cost of $4,535. The structure was …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/blakistone-island-lighthouse/
Lazaretto Point Lighthouse *
The original tower on this point was built in 1831 by John Donahoo, the builder of 12 Chesapeake Bay lights. This was the tenth light that he was to build. It was 31 feet tall and was built of brick. The decision to build here was made because the government already owned five acres of …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/lazaretto-point-lighthouse/
Upper Cedar Point Lighthouse
In 1821, a lightship was stationed at the location of the Upper Cedar Point Lighthouse. For the next 46 years, a total of four lightships remained there until the Lighthouse Board began replacing lightships with permanent structures. In 1867, a white, square screwpile light was built. It was nearly identical in appearance to the …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/upper-cedar-point-lighthouse/
Somers Cove Lighthouse
On March 2, 1867, Congress appropriated $10,000 to construct a lighthouse to mark the entrance to the Little Annemessex River at Crisfield, MD., situated just north of the Virginia line on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. According to the U.S. Lighthouse Board, it should be “a screwpile structure of the least expensive class.” …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/somers-cove-lighthouse/
Sharkfin Shoal Lighthouse
Sharkfin Shoal Lighthouse was located two miles southwest of Clay Island at the Nanticoke River. It was built to replace the Clay Island Lighthouse, located two miles to the northeast. In 1889, Congress appropriated $25,000 to construct the new lighthouse. Construction of the superstructure was executed at Lazaretto Depot, in Baltimore, MD. In May …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/sharkfin-shoal-lighthouse/
Ragged Point Lighthouse
The first request for a light at Ragged Point was in 1896. Funds were not appropriated until 1906 and construction did not begin until an additional $5,000 was appropriated in 1908. The lighthouse was erected at Coles Point near the Virginia shoreline in Westmoreland County, to mark a shoal that ran from the lighthouse …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/ragged-point-lighthouse/
Mathias Point Lighthouse
Mathias Point Station was placed at the edge of a shoal jutting out from a major bend in the Potomac River. This point was considered one of the most dangerous navigation problems on the river. In the summer of 1873, the United States naval steamer Frolic went ashore and remained grounded for over two weeks. …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/mathias-point-lighthouse/
Maryland Point Lighthouse
Congress appropriated $50,000 on August 30, 1890, to establish a lighthouse at Maryland Point. Maryland Point lighthouse was in the middle of the Potomac River halfway between Fairview Beach, VA, and Caledon Natural Area State Park in King George County, VA. The Lighthouse Board noted, “The channel of the river is quite narrow here and …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/maryland-point-lighthouse/
Lower Cedar Point Lighthouse
The Potomac River was filled with dangerous shoals and narrow turns, so the need for safe navigation was especially important for mariners. In 1825, A 72-ton wood schooner with a single light, “DD”, was stationed at Lower Cedar Point Station on the Potomac River. In 1861, Confederate forces boarded and burned the ship. In …
Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/lower-cedar-point-lighthouse-2/
