Chesapeake Bay Lighthouses By Phyllis Butler

Chesapeake Lighthouses Contents Types of Lighthouses About Chesapeake Lighthouses Lighthouses around the Bay November 29, 2018

Types of Lighthouses

Towers and Cottages Towers and cottages were the first lighthouses in Chesapeake Bay. Usually made out of stone or brick, and were built in viewing distance for ships. Were used until the 1800’s because they came up with a more efficient light source for the ships. The oldest of this type is still lit in Maryland today. Shore erosion damaged many of these lighthouses. November 29, 2018

Concord Point Lighthouse Havre, Maryland November 29, 2018

Screwpiles Built between 1854-1900. Built in with iron legs, which are stabilized into the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay. Normally placed on mouths of rivers or shoals. Because of manmade barriers against currents and high winds screwpiles were the best design. 42 of this type were built in the Bay. November 29, 2018

Drum Point Lighthouse Calvert Museum, Solomons Island November 29, 2018

Caisson Lights The sturdiest lighthouses in the Bay. 12 were built between 1873-1914. Used to help ships in the Bay’s deepest water. Built on platforms, which were sunken deep into the water. On the platforms are towers, which raise the lighthouse above the water. November 29, 2018

Sandy Point Shoal Sandy Point State Park November 29, 2018

Lightships First lightship was built in 1820, and the last was 1960. Wooden sail powered vessels that were used as floating lights. Were built to sustain harsh conditions that lighthouses would never be able to stand. Mostly used in deep waters and shoals. They soon became equipped with more advanced lighting and radio technology. November 29, 2018

Lightship 116, Chesapeake museum vessel by the Baltimore Maritime Museum November 29, 2018

About Chesapeake Bay Lighthouses November 29, 2018

Chesapeake Lighthouses November 29, 2018

Lighthouses Today there are 30 lighthouses along the bay, but only 23 of those are used for navigation. There were originally 74 lighthouses that illuminated the Chesapeake Bay. In the 1900’s electricity replaced oil and lighthouse keepers. November 29, 2018

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Chesapeake Lighthouses When Lighthouse services begun it was 1812. Land Purchased by the Federal Government. In 1832. Lighthouse construction was completed in 1833. Keeper’s house was demolished due to vandalism in 1971. In 1948, Fannie May Salter retires. Station becomes automated. November 29, 2018

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The nation’s second tallest lighthouse Is in Virginia. Before the invention of modern navigation, sailors depended on lighthouses to warn them of dangerous shallow water areas in the bay. Each lighthouse flashes a different pattern of light to signify their location. Early Chesapeake Bay lighthouses were towers of brick or stone built along the coastline. Virginia has 11 historic lighthouse, 9 of which are active and 1 historic lightship. The nation’s second tallest lighthouse Is in Virginia. November 29, 2018

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Map of Lighthouses November 29, 2018

Lighthouses around the Bay

Most of Virginia’s lighthouses are off limits to the public. Local Preservation efforts, formally weak, have strengthened in recent years. Many Virginia lighthouses have been lost, including all of the former screwpile lighthouses of the Chesapeake Bay and the James, York, and Rappahannock rivers. The Tangier Sounds lighthouse, a square cottage screwpile was demolished in 1961. Rappahannock lighthouse is the second tallest aid to navigation in the country. November 29, 2018

Windmill Point lighthouse has been inactive since 1954. The Smith Point lighthouse replaced an 1868 screwpile light house, destroyed by ice in 1895. Windmill Point lighthouse has been inactive since 1954. The Great Wicomico River lighthouse was demolished in 1967. The Sting Ray lighthouse is a museum and also serves as the office of Sting Ray Harbor Marina. Wolf Trap is located on a dangerous shoal in the Chesapeake south of the mouth of the Rappahannock. It has been active since 1894. November 29, 2018

York Spit was demolished in 1960. The New Point Comfort Lighthouse is located on a very small island in Chesapeake. It was renovated in 1988, severely vandalized in 1994, then repaired and relit December 12, 1999. York Spit was demolished in 1960. York Spit has been active since 1870. Tue Marshes has been active since 1875. November 29, 2018

Thomas Point Lighthouse One of the most popular lighthouses along the Chesapeake Bay. It was put into use in November 1875, and lighthouse keepers kept the light burning for over a century. It was replaced with electricity in 1986. Still in operation today in Annapolis, at the mouth of the South River. National historic landmark, and is owned by Coast Guard Actives Baltimore. November 29, 2018

Thomas Point Lighthouse November 29, 2018

Assateague Island Lighthouse Was first built in 1831,and was 45 feet tall Construction of the new lighthouse was starter in 1860 but was stopped cause of civil war and was resumed in 1865, and finished in 1867 Coast guards owns lighthouse The tower has a unique dumbwaiter system alcoved into the water The Argand Lamp displayed a beam for 14 nautical miles. November 29, 2018

Assateague Island Lighthouse November 29, 2018

Old Cape Henry Lighthouse Was Constructed in 1791 Was 1st to be authorized, completed and established by the U.S. Congress In 1862 the confederate army removed 1st order Frensel lens and destroyed the lantern. Light was repaired shortly after but was extinguished in 1881 due to structure being unstable The Lighthouse cost was a little over $15,000 November 29, 2018

Old Cape Henry Lighthouse Cape Henry Lighthouse is the first lighthouse structure authorized, fully completed, and lighted by the newly organized Federal Government. It is an octagonal stone structure, faced with hewn or hammer-dressed stone -- the first of three lighthouses to be built by John McComb, Jr. The tower was completed in October, 1792, and it was lighted in that same month. From early colonial times Chesapeake Bay boasted a substantial volume of shipping. For decades, however, efforts to gain the benefits of a lighthouse were unsuccessful. The division of the Bay into two political entities, Virginia and Maryland, made unified action difficult; the comparative regularity of the coast off the Virginia Capes made it seem less pressing; and there was difficulty in getting agreement among so many interested, and often conflicting parties -- the two houses of the Maryland and Virginia Assemblies, the British Government, Lord Baltimore, and British merchants trading to the Chesapeake. The lighthouse was not erected until this complex situation had been simplified with the establishment of the Federal Government. Then it became the first                           Cape Henry Lighthouse is the first lighthouse structure authorized, fully completed, and lighted by the newly organized Federal Government. It is an octagonal stone structure, faced with hewn or hammer-dressed stone -- the first of three lighthouses to be built by John McComb, Jr. The tower was completed in October, 1792, and it was lighted in that same month. From early colonial times Chesapeake Bay boasted a substantial volume of shipping. For decades, however, efforts to gain the benefits of a lighthouse were unsuccessful. The division of the Bay into two political entities, Virginia and Maryland, made unified action difficult; the comparative regularity of the coast off the Virginia Capes made it seem less pressing; and there was difficulty in getting agreement among so many interested, and often conflicting parties -- the two houses of the Maryland and Virginia Assemblies, the British Government, Lord Baltimore, and British merchants trading to the Chesapeake. The lighthouse was not erected until this complex situation had been simplified with the establishment of the Federal Government. Then it became the first                           Cape Henry Lighthouse is the first lighthouse structure authorized, fully completed, and lighted by the newly organized Federal Government. It is an octagonal stone structure, faced with hewn or hammer-dressed stone -- the first of three lighthouses to be built by John McComb, Jr. The tower was completed in October, 1792, and it was lighted in that same month. From early colonial times Chesapeake Bay boasted a substantial volume of shipping. For decades, however, efforts to gain the benefits of a lighthouse were unsuccessful. The division of the Bay into two political entities, Virginia and Maryland, made unified action difficult; the comparative regularity of the coast off the Virginia Capes made it seem less pressing; and there was difficulty in getting agreement among so many interested, and often conflicting parties -- the two houses of the Maryland and Virginia Assemblies, the British Government, Lord Baltimore, and British merchants trading to the Chesapeake. The lighthouse was not erected until this complex situation had been simplified with the establishment of the Federal Government. Then it became the first                                                                               Old Cape Henry Lighthouse November 29, 2018

New Cape Henry Lighthouse Located within Fort Story Constructed to replace Old Cape Henry Lighthouse in 1791and was 163 ft. tall Was electrified in 1923 Became 2nd Lighthouse in U.S. to have radio beacon in 1929 Was built with prefabricated cast iron plates November 29, 2018

New Cape Henry Lighthouse November 29, 2018

Old Point Comfort Lighthouse Was built in 1802 Badly battered by naval gunfire in the Civil War 54 ft. tall and was constructed with sandstone Has been owned by U.S. army since 1973 Was built in typical Colonial Revival Style November 29, 2018

Old Point Comfort Lighthouse November 29, 2018

Newport News Middleground Lighthouse Was built in 1891 In Hampton Roads, Virginia Because of Naval Base in Norfolk the lighthouse board requested a light house built on shallow area 1,000 tons of riprap stone were set to protect the lighthouse from the current The oldest caisson construction of the Chesapeake Bay November 29, 2018

Newport News Middleground Lighthouse November 29, 2018

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