1819: Congress appropriates $9,000 on March 3 to construct a lighthouse at Bodkin Point and two on North Point at the mouth of the Patapsco River, Maryland.
1820: Six acres of land are purchased in August from Richard Caton for $600.
1821: The contract to construct the lighthouse is awarded to Thomas Evans and William Coppeck. Construction of the 35-foot tower and one-story stone keeper’s dwelling begins in June and is completed by October.
1822: Thirteen lamps are received from Winslow Lewis and the light is first displayed in January.
1850: The station is listed as in good shape and is whitewashed.
1851: The station is listed as in bad order – lamps, burners and reflectors are full of carbonized wick and dirty oil.
1851: Congress appropriates $17,000 to construct a lighthouse on Bodkin Shoal (Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse), which will replace the current lighthouse on Bodkin Point.
1856: Bodkin Point Lighthouse is decommissioned after Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse is commissioned.
1914: The tower collapsed.
Sources:
- Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board, various years.
- Lighthouse Friends website, accessed March 2020
