Sharps Island Light
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Sharps Island Light
The Sharps Island Light is the third lighthouse to stand nearly 3 miles (5 km) south-southwest from the southern end of Tilghman Island in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. The structure is best known today for evoking the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a condition caused by an ice floe in 1977. The first lighthouse was built on Sharps Island in 1838, but due to the island's erosion it was moved in 1848. This was replaced with a screwpile lighthouse in 1866 near the original location of the first structure. The second lighthouse lasted until 1881 when it was forced off its foundations by an ice floe. It floated nearly five miles down the Chesapeake—with its keepers still inside—until it ran aground, allowing the men to escape unharmed. The third light was manufactured by the Builder's Iron Company of Providence, Rhode Island. It consisted of a cylindrical caisson in diameter and tall. It was constructed of cast iron plates which were thick. These were bolted together on ...
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Tilghman Island
Tilghman Island is an island in the Chesapeake Bay. It is part of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. History Initially known as Great Choptank Island, the island became identified with a series of local families. It was owned by Matthew Tilghman's family from 1752 and has been known as Tilghman Island ever since. During the War of 1812 the island was briefly occupied by the British, who obtained provisions for their military forces. The community of Tilghman appeared in the 1840s. The economy shifted from farming to greater reliance on oystering and fishing as markets developed in Baltimore and Washington, aided by steamboat service in the 1890s. Historic places The '' E.C. Collier'', the '' Elsworth'', the '' Hilda M. Willing'', the ''Kathryn'', the '' Maggie Lee'', the '' Minnie V'', the '' Nellie L. Byrd'', the Paw Paw Cove Site, the '' Ralph T. Webster'', the '' Rebecca T. Ruark'', the '' Reliance'', the '' Ruby G. Ford'', Sharps Island Light, the '' Sigsbee'', and ...
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United States Lighthouse Society
The United States Lighthouse Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to aiding in the restoration of American lighthouses and educating the public about their history. With four chapters, and more than a dozen affiliates, it is one of the largest and oldest lighthouse organizations in the world. History Founded in 1984 by Wayne Wheeler and initially headquartered in San Francisco, California, one of the United States Lighthouse Society's first major projects was the purchase of the lightship LV605 in 1986 from a private individual. The organization subsequently invested $400,000 and more than 40,000 volunteer hours in the preservation and restoration of the vessel. In 2003 the society received the California Governor's Historic Preservation Award for its work on the ship. The society relocated from California to Hansville, Washington in 2008, siting its headquarters at the historic Point No Point Lighthouse, which it rented from Kitsap County (the county, in turn, lease ...
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Lighthouses Completed In 1882
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, rocks, and safe entries to harbors; they also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and has become uneconomical since the advent of much cheaper, more sophisticated and effective electronic navigational systems. History Ancient lighthouses Before the development of clearly defined ports, mariners were guided by fires built on hilltops. Since elevating the fire would improve the visibility, placing the fire on a platform became a practice that led to the development of the lighthouse. In antiquity, the lighthouse functioned more as an entrance marker to ports than as a warning signal for reefs and ...
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Lighthouses Completed In 1838
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, rocks, and safe entries to harbors; they also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and has become uneconomical since the advent of much cheaper, more sophisticated and effective electronic navigational systems. History Ancient lighthouses Before the development of clearly defined ports, mariners were guided by fires built on hilltops. Since elevating the fire would improve the visibility, placing the fire on a platform became a practice that led to the development of the lighthouse. In antiquity, the lighthouse functioned more as an entrance marker to ports than as a warning signal for reefs a ...
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National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act
The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 (NHLPA; Public Law 106-355; 16 U.S.C. 470w-7) is American legislation creating a process for the transfer of federally owned lighthouses into private hands. It was created as an extension of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Background Maintenance of aids to navigation had been assigned to the federal government from the beginning, first under the Department of the Treasury, and then under the U.S. Lighthouse Board (1852-1910) and its successor, the U.S. Lighthouse Service. In 1939 lighthouses were placed under the authority of the United States Coast Guard, which also took over the manning of lights with keepers. Throughout this period the expense of maintaining and staffing lights was constantly stressed. Automation of lights began early in the twentieth century, and a major push in the early 1960s relieved all but a few lighthouses of their keepers. Lighthouses are fairly high maintenance structures, being ...
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Doomsday List
''Lighthouse Digest'', a specialty magazine from FogHorn Publishing in East Machias, Maine, is about maritime history with particular attention to the preservation of lighthouses and their past. Though it is geared toward enthusiasts and antiquarians in the United States, it is also quoted commonly in more academic publications, and its editors have become a staple presence in scholarly circles. Editor Tim Harrison issued the first number in May, 1992. Scope Coverage includes historic and current lighthouse events and an events calendar for lighthouse activities around the United States and elsewhere. They publish a " Doomsday List" of Endangered lighthouses, and have helped save a number of at-risk lighthouses. They have been credited with uncovering many parts of lighthouse history that had been unknown, or which were thought to have been lost. Each issue carries articles and unusual lighthouse-related stories that, for the most part, cannot be found elsewhere, and many p ...
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Lighthouse Digest
''Lighthouse Digest'', a specialty magazine from FogHorn Publishing in East Machias, Maine, is about maritime history with particular attention to the preservation of lighthouses and their past. Though it is geared toward enthusiasts and antiquarians in the United States, it is also quoted commonly in more academic publications, and its editors have become a staple presence in scholarly circles. Editor Tim Harrison issued the first number in May, 1992. Scope Coverage includes historic and current lighthouse events and an events calendar for lighthouse activities around the United States and elsewhere. They publish a "Doomsday List" of Endangered lighthouses, and have helped save a number of at-risk lighthouses. They have been credited with uncovering many parts of lighthouse history that had been unknown, or which were thought to have been lost. Each issue carries articles and unusual lighthouse-related stories that, for the most part, cannot be found elsewhere, and many phot ...
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Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail is a series of water routes in the United States extending approximately along the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary, and its tributaries in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and in the District of Columbia. The historic routes trace the 1607–1609 voyages of Captain John Smith to chart the land and waterways of the Chesapeake. Along with the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, it is one of two water trails designated as National Historic Trails. Four connecting trails designated in 2012 extend the trail up the Susquehanna River, Chester River, Upper Nanticoke River, and Upper James River. Creation The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail was established on December 19, 2006, by after a year of feasibility studies undertaken by the National Park Service and authorized by the United States Congress. Pressure to create the trail came from bipartisan legislation initially introduced i ...
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National Register Of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic value". A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966 established the National Register and the process for adding properties to it. Of the more than one and a half million properties on the National Register, 95,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts. For most of its history, the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior. Its goals are to help property owners and inte ...
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United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the United States military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its duties. It is the largest and most powerful coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies. The U.S. Coast Guard is a humanitarian and security service. It protects the United States' borders and economic and security interests abroad; and defends its sovereignty by safeguarding sea lines of communication and commerce across vast territorial waters spanning 95,000 miles of coastline and its Exclusive Economic Zone. With national and economic security depending upon open global trade a ...
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Sparkplug Lighthouse
A caisson lighthouse (also referred to as a sparkplug lighthouse, or bug light) is a type of lighthouse whose superstructure rests on a concrete or metal caisson. Caisson lighthouses were developed in the late nineteenth century as a cheaper alternative to screwpile lighthouses. The caisson design was also more efficient as it could better withstand harsh weather, and was not as fragile. Caisson lighthouses usually have living quarters made of cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ..., although some brick examples are known. The two American nicknames were later coined because of the structure's shape. Gallery See also References Lighthouses Marine architecture Caissons {{pharology-stub ...
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USLHT Jessamine
USLHT ''Jessamine'' was a steam-powered Paddle steamer, sidewheel lighthouse tender built in 1881 for the United States Lighthouse Board. She spent forty years in government service, homeported in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland as part of the 5th Lighthouse District. Her primary mission was to build and maintain lighthouses in Chesapeake Bay and nearby waterways in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Some of the lighthouses she built still stand. In 1922 the ship was sold to private interests. She spent most of the rest of her career carrying freight between Salisbury, Maryland and Baltimore. When competition from trucks on improved roads and bridges rendered her service uneconomic in 1957, she was repurposed to carry bananas from Mexico to Brownsville, Texas. She sank on this route in October 1959. Construction and characteristics During the 2nd session of the 46th Congress, United States Congress, Congress appropriated $90,000 for the construction of two " ...
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