The Blackistone Island Light was a

lighthouse 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 mar ...

located on what is now St. Clement's Island on the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It is best known as the target of a Confederate raid in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Completed in 1851, the structure was destroyed by fire in 1956 and its shell was razed; a replica was completed in 2008. The lighthouse replica can be visited on weekends from June through October. After driving to the St. Clement's Island Museum, one may take a water taxi on weekends and walk the grounds. A cross is also on the island. The lighthouse is open on Saturdays and the first Sunday of every month from June through October.

History

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

appropriated $3,500 for the construction of a lighthouse on the island in 1848;

John Donahoo John Donahoo (sometimes spelled Donahoe) (1786–1858) was a lighthouse builder active in Maryland for much of the first half of the nineteenth century. Little is known of Donahoo's life, but he appears to have been an active citizen in Havre de ...

was awarded the contract, which cost $4,535. He designed an

integral lighthouse An integral lighthouse is a lighthouse in which the tower and keeper's dwelling are united in one structure. Generally, the term is ''not'' used to refer to a caisson or screw-pile lighthouse A screw-pile lighthouse is a lighthouse which stan ...

, a two-story brick keeper's dwelling with a tower through its center, which sat on a plot at the southern tip of the island. Construction was completed, and the light lit, in 1851. The lighthouse, like many in the South, was a target for

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

raiders. In 1864, CSA Captain John Goldsmith, a former owner of the island, led a party which destroyed the lighthouse lens and confiscated the oil used to light it; the group then declared its intent to destroy the structure. Keeper Jerome McWilliams, an acquaintance of the captain's, succeeded in convincing the men not to destroy the lighthouse because his wife was pregnant; he argued that destroying the family home would leave both her and the baby vulnerable. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

purchased the island in 1919 and razed most structures on it, leaving only the lighthouse and building

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

s and a

landing strip According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete, o ...

. The light was automated in 1932 and left unattended, gradually decaying over the next twenty years.

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

gutted the structure on July 16, 1956; to this day, the cause of the blaze is uncertain, but many suspect that a stray

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

round fired from the

proving ground A proving ground (US) is an installation or reservation in which technology such as weapons, military tactics and automobile prototypes are experimented with or tested. Proving grounds can be operated by government bodies or civilian industries. ...

Dahlgren, Virginia Dahlgren is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in King George County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,946 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 2,653 at the 2010 census, and up from 997 in 2000. History ...

, may have been to blame. In any event, the Navy viewed the shell as a hazard and ordered it razed. Through the efforts of the St. Clement's Hundred, a local community organization created for the preservation of St. Clement's Island, a replica of the Blackistone Lighthouse was constructed and completed in June 2008.

Gallery

Image:Rebuilt Blackistone Lighthouse View 1 Sept 09.JPG, Rebuilt Blackistone Lighthouse, September 2009

References

External links

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Blackistone Lighthouse
* {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1851 Lighthouses in St. Mary's County, Maryland Potomac River Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay 1851 establishments in Maryland