Category: Sharkfin Shoal

Keeper Bio: Sterling, Henry Columbus

Keepers

Date of Service: 1900 – 1937 1872: Born on August 10 to parents George B. and Nancy Clark Sterling in Lawsonia, Somerset County, MD. 1891: Marries Sally Marian Riggin on July 28. They raise 6 children. 1900: Serves as First Assistant at Solomons Lump Lighthouse, MD. His salary is $420/year. 1900-1901: Serves as First Assistant …

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Timeline: Sharkfin Shoal Lighthouse

1887:   The U.S. Lighthouse Board recommends building a screwpile lighthouse on Sharkfin Shoal at a price of $25,000. This light station would take the place of Clay Island lighthouse, which is being washed away due to erosion and needs many expensive repairs. 1889:   Congress appropriates $25,000 to construct the lighthouse at Sharkfin Shoal. Borings are …

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Keeper Bio: Kelly, William James

Date of Service: 1918 – 1945 1900: Born on January 29 to William S. Kelly and Bertha Wallace Kelly.1918 – 1920: Begins Lighthouse Service. Serves as Assistant Keeper at Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse (VA) – an off-shore screwpile lighthouse on the Eastern Shore of the Bay, southwest of Cape Charles City, VA. His salary was …

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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 …

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