The Thomas Point Shoal Light, also known as Thomas Point Shoal Light Station, is a historic
lighthouse in the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
on the
east coast of the United States, and the most recognized lighthouse in
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 the only
screw-pile lighthouse
A screw-pile lighthouse is a lighthouse which stands on piles that are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms. The first screw-pile lighthouse to begin construction was built by the blind Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell. Constructio ...
in the bay which stands at its original site. The current structure is a 1½ story hexagonal wooden cottage, equipped with a
foghorn as well as the light.
[
]
History
A stone lighthouse was constructed in 1825 on shore at Thomas Point[ 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 ...
, Thomas Point Light. It was replaced in 1838 by another stone tower. The point was subject to continuing erosion (which would eventually bring down the lighthouse on the point in 1894),[ and in 1873 ]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 ...
appropriated $20,000 for the construction of a screw-pile structure out in the bay, Thomas Point Shoal Light . With an additional $15,000 appropriation in 1875, the light was built and activated in November of that year. It took 30 workers to set each cast iron beam into the Chesapeake Bay's bottom.
Ice was a perpetual threat to screw-pile lights on the Chesapeake, and in 1877 the original lens was destroyed when it toppled by shaking from ice floes. This lens was replaced, and the additional piles and riprap
Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...
were placed around the foundation in order to protect it. By 1964 it was the last manned light in the Chesapeake Bay, and it was not automated until 1986. It is currently the last unaltered screwpile cottage-type lighthouse on its original foundation in the Chesapeake Bay.
Preservation
Concerns for its preservation brought it a 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 ...
listing in 1975 and National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
status in 1999.[ and ]
In 2004, ownership of the lighthouse passed to the city of Annapolis, Maryland, which now maintains the structure in conjunction with Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...
, the Annapolis Maritime Museum, and th
Chesapeake Chapter
of the U.S. Lighthouse Society. In 2019, a Lighthouse Society spokesman said that the steel substructure, last replaced in the 1980s, is severely rusted and requires $300,000 in repairs. Fortunately, the cast iron screw pilings remain in sound condition, "as good today as they were 144 years ago", said the '' Baltimore Sun'' in reporting on the needed funding in August 2019.
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, mu ...
continues to maintain the navigational aids at the Lighthouse. The lighthouse keeper's former living quarters are open to the public three months out of the year, through boat tours departing from Annapolis, organized by the U.S. Lighthouse Society. Tickets are purchased on thei
web site
References
Sources
*
Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse
- from Lighthousefriends.com
*
External links
* Thomas Point Shoa
Lighthouse
U.S. Lighthouse Society
*, including photo from 1993, at Maryland Historical Trust
{{Authority control
Lighthouses completed in 1875
Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
National Historic Landmarks in Maryland
Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay
National Historic Landmark lighthouses
Buildings and structures in Annapolis, Maryland
National Register of Historic Places in Annapolis, Maryland
Lighthouses in Anne Arundel County, Maryland
1875 establishments in Maryland