Concord Point Light is 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 ...
in
Havre de Grace,
Maryland. It overlooks the point where
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...
flows into the
Chesapeake Bay, an area of increasing navigational traffic when it was constructed in 1827.
It is the northernmost lighthouse and the second-oldest tower lighthouse still standing on the bay.
Concord Point Light is currently listed as a private aid to navigation.
Description
Concord Point Light is among the many Maryland lighthouses built by
John Donahoo, who also built its keeper's house across the street.
The tower is constructed of
Port Deposit granite. The walls are thick at the base and narrow to at the parapet.
The lantern was originally lit with nine
whale oil lamps with
tin reflectors. In 1854, a sixth-order
Fresnel lens was installed. This was later upgraded to a fifth-order Fresnel lens.
The lighthouse was automated in 1920.
History
Among the lighthouse's keepers from 1827 to the mid-1900s were several members of the O'Neill family. The first O'Neill,
John O'Neill had defended the town of Havre de Grace by manning a cannon battery on Concord Point during the
War of 1812.
By 1924, local documents describe the lighthouse area as being "seriously blighted"; it apparently remained that way for many years.
The lighthouse was decommissioned by the
Coast Guard in 1975; soon after that, the lens was stolen. The structure was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Extensive restoration work began in 1979. The keeper's house has since been restored and is open to the public as a museum.
In 1983, a fifth-order Fresnel lens borrowed from the Coast Guard was installed in the lantern room.
See also
*
*
Lighthouses in Maryland
This is a list of all lighthouses in the U.S. state of Maryland as identified by the United States Coast Guard. There are fourteen active lights in the state as well as three automated caissons and eleven skeleton towers replacing previously staff ...
*
Lighthouses in the United States
References
External links
Concord Point Lighthouse- official site
Lighthouse Friends: Concord Point Light- photos and description
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080704052208/http://perlman.net/lighthouse_trips/Concordpoint.htm Trip report to Concord Point Lightbr>
Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Concord Point Light*, including photo dated 1990, at Maryland Historical Trust
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Lighthouses completed in 1827
Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Museums in Harford County, Maryland
Lighthouse museums in Maryland
Transportation buildings and structures in Harford County, Maryland
Buildings and structures in Havre de Grace, Maryland
National Register of Historic Places in Harford County, Maryland
1827 establishments in Maryland