The Piney Point Lighthouse was built in 1836 located at Piney Point 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 ...

just up the river from the mouth of the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. The Coast Guard decommissioned it in 1964 and it has since become a museum. It is known as the Lighthouse of Presidents because several early US Presidents visited or stayed on the grounds.

History

Congress appropriated $5000 to build the lighthouse in 1836. The lighthouse was built by

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 ...

and had a range of . The lamp was replaced in 1855 with a

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

upgrading the range to . A bell tower was added in 1880 and was in service until 1954 when

Hurricane Hazel Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, second costliest, and most intense hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed at least 469 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and South ...

damaged it beyond repair. The federal government deeded the property to St. Mary's County in 1980 and in 1990 the Museum Division of St. Mary's County Department of Recreation and Parks began to renovate the grounds. Exhibits at the Piney Point Lighthouse Museum focus on the lighthouse, the

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, mult ...

, the Piney Point area, and the story of the Black Panther U-1105 German submarine sunk in the Potomac that now serves as a shipwreck dive preserve. The Potomac River Maritime Exhibit displays four historic wooden vessels in a separate building. Visitors can climb the lighthouse tower when the museum is open for operation. The nearby Piney Point Elementary School in Tall Timbers, Maryland is named after the lighthouse.

Notes

References

* * *
Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Piney Point Light

External links

*, including photo from 2000, at Maryland Historical Trust {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1836 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse museums in Maryland Museums in St. Mary's County, Maryland 1836 establishments in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in St. Mary's County, Maryland Lighthouses in St. Mary's County, Maryland

History

See also

Notes

References

External links