1885: The U.S. Lighthouse Board requests $15,000 to build a lighthouse at Cobb Point Bar to guide vessels into the mouth of the Wicomico River and provide refuge for vessels from bad storms or drifting ice.
1887: The U.S. Lighthouse board repeats the request to construct a lighthouse at Cobb Point Bar, this time for $25,000.
1888: Congress appropriates $15,000 to construct a lighthouse at Cobb Point Bar on October 2.
1889: The plans for the lighthouse will be the same plans as the Tangier Sound lighthouse. The metalwork to be delivered at Lazaretto Depot in Baltimore by August 10.
1890: Construction begins November 1 and is completed by the end of the month. The lighthouse is a square, wood-dwelling supported by five iron screw piles. It is equipped with a fourth-order Fresnel lens exhibiting a fixed white light. It was first exhibited on the night of December 25. A machine operated fog bell will strike every fifteen seconds when required.
1893: Arrangements are being made to insert a red sector in the light at Cobb Point Bar.
1894: A red sector is added to the light and first exhibited on August 15.
1899: New model fourth-order lamps are supplied.
1914: Keeper Ole O. Johnson and assistant keeper Robert Kuhn assist a disabled powerboat on April 13.
1915: Keeper Ole O. Johnson is awarded the efficiency gold star.
1917: Keeper Ole O. Johnson and assistant keeper Robert Kuhn assist a disabled motorboat on September 22.
1918: Keeper Ole O. Johnson is awarded the commissioners efficiency star.
1920: 800 tons of riprap is placed on the southeast side of the lighthouse to form an ice breaker and to protect the structure from ice fields.
1921: Repairs are made to the metal substructure.
1927: Keeper Ole O. Johnson and assistant keeper W. A. Gibbs rescue five people adrift in a small boat during a bad storm.
1928: Assistant Keeper Thomas J. Steinhise helped the boat Demo, which went aground near the lighthouse.
1939: The lighthouse suffers major damage during a fire in December.
1940: An automated light is erected on the remaining screwpile foundation.
Sources:
- Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board, various years.
- Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of Finances, various years.
- Forgotten Beacons, Patrick Hornberger & Linda Turbyville, 1997
Updated 5/27/2020
