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Program: Lighthouse Historical Displays

This program was established in 2016 with a goal to educate the public about the history of the lighthouses, offshore within the Chesapeake Bay, both existing and those no longer standing. The method is a professional historical placard placed on government land or property (federal, state, or county) outdoors near the shore, (or indoors if there is public access and no appropriate outdoor location) ideally facing the lighthouse or its original location. The restriction for the placement of the placards on government property is to take advantage of the increased level of security at these restricted-access facilities. Indoor placards can also be placed inside nonprofit lighthouse/maritime-related museums. The Chapter has performed the research on all of the lighthouses within the Chesapeake Bay. This research was conducted by Chapter volunteers at both the U.S. Coast Guard Historians Office and the National Archives. Chapter volunteers design the artwork for these placards with this research, and use the best available photos.

Both the indoor and outdoor offshore historical placards are normally provided to the government or nonprofit organization free of charge. The project is funded solely from the Chapter budget. No sponsors are used for the purchase of these placards.

The Chapter would like to recognize Greg Krawczyk and Jennifer Jones for their continuing efforts to reach out to local museums and locations to partner with for the displays and the design, research and final editing of the displays.  A special Thank You to Claudia Talbott, Cory Talbott, and the South River High School (Edgewater, Maryland) History Club for their initial contributions to the original design.

The first offshore historical placard was delivered in December 2017.

Contact: programs@cheslights.org

The Lighthouse Historical Placards that have been completed and displayed are:

Kent Island, MD
Dec 2017, Love Point Lighthouse Indoor at the Chesapeake Bay Heritage & Visitors Center Kent Island
Eastport, MD
May 2018, Thomas Point Shoal Light Indoor at the Annapolis Maritime Museum
• May 2018, Greenbury Point Shoal Lighthouse Indoor at the Annapolis Maritime Museum
Annapolis, MD
May 2018 Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse Indoor at the Sandy Point State Park Marina Office
June 2018 Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse Indoor at the Sandy Point State Park Main Office entry area
April 2019 Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse Indoor at the Navy Marina Office
April 2019 Greenbury Point Shoal Lighthouse Indoor at the Navy Marina Office
June 2019 Greenbury Point Shoal Lighthouse Indoor at the Greenbury Point Nature Center
July 2019 Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse OUTDOOR at the Sandy POINT State Park
July 2020 Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse Indoor at Thomas Point Lighthouse
August 2020 Greenbury Point Lighthouse Indoor at the USCG Station Crew Lounge, Annapolis, MD
August 2020 Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse Indoor at the USCG Station Crew Lounge, Annapolis, MD
September 2020 Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse OUTDOOR at the Thomas Point Co Park
Chance, MD
July 2022 – Indoor placards for the Clay Island, Great Shoals + Sharkfin Shoal LHs at the Skipjack Heritage Museum
Crisfield, MD
Aug 2018 Janes Island Lighthouse Indoor at the Tawes Museum display area
Aug 2019 Somers Cove Lighthouse Indoor at the Tawes Museum display area
Fort Washington, MD
Sept 2018 Fort Washington Lighthouse Indoor at the Ft Washington National Park office
Havre de Grace, MD
Jan 2019 Fishing Battery Island Lighthouse Indoor at the Concord Point Museum display area
Piney Point, MD
Feb 2019 Piney Point Lighthouse Indoor at the Piney Point Lighthouse Museum display area
Pasadena, MD
June 2019 Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse OUTDOOR at the Fort Smallwood Co Park
July 2020 Fort Carroll Lighthouse OUTDOOR at the Fort Smallwood Co Park
Cape Charles, VA
Aug 2019 Cherrystone Lighthouse Indoor at the Cape Charles Museum
Aug 2019 Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse Indoor at the Cape Charles Museum
Fort Eustis, VA
May 2020 Deep Water Shoals Lighthouse Indoor at the James River Reserve Fleet office
May 2020 Deep Water Shoals Lighthouse Indoor at the US Army Transportation Museum
Smithfield, VA
December 2020 – 4 Indoor placards of James River Lighthouses at the Isle of Wight County Museum
Gwynn, VA
May 2021 – 4 Indoor placards to Gwynn’s Island Museum
Deltaville, VA
July 2022 – Indoor placards for Stingray Point + Windmill Point LHs at the Deltaville Maritime Museum
Reedville, VA
• May 2022 – Indoor placards for Great Wicomico + Smith Pt LHs at the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum
Yorktown, VA
• November 2021 -4 OUTDOOR placards on the 4 York River Lighthouse, on the Riverwalk

How are the placards created?
The Chapter volunteers prepare the artwork in PowerPoint, as this is the preferred program for the outdoor placard manufacturers, and foam board providers. The Chapter seeks approval of the artwork as well as the size by the organization receiving the placard. All artwork includes language indicating that the Chapter provided the placard, our web site, and the name of the Chapter volunteer that prepared the design. Photos indicate the origin or credit as applicable. For indoor placards, the sizes available for foam boards are listed on the Vistaprint web site. Indoor placards usually are 18” x 28” or smaller.

For outdoor placards, the Chapter procures these durable and professional panels and bases from the Pannier Graphics company and coordinates with the receiving organization on the installation, usually by provided free by the museum, park or government staff.

For indoor placards, we typically deliver the placard, and the receiving organization installs/mounts the indoor placards. The Chapter requires that the indoor placards be mounted in a location where the greatest amount of people visiting the facility can view and read it. The indoor placards are not provided for installation in private offices.

The indoor placards then become the property of the receiving organization. However, the Chapter requests that the receiving organization not alter the placards, although it is acceptable to trim/remove the blank white portions along the top and bottom.

Government or non-profit organizations that are interested to see if they qualify for one of these Lighthouse Historical Placards, should contact the Chapter Program Chair at: programs@cheslights.org

Permanent link to this article: https://cheslights.org/programs/program-historical-placard/