Thomas Point Shoal Light
{{Short description|Lighthouse in Maryland, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox lighthouse
| image_name = Thomas Point Lighthouse Chesapeake Bay.jpg
| location = off Thomas Point at the mouth of the South River in the Chesapeake Bay
| coordinates = {{coord|38.899|N|76.436|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| yearbuilt = 1875
| yearlit = 1875
| automated = 1986
| foundation = screw-pile
| construction = cast-iron/wood
| shape = Square lantern on hexagonal house
| focalheight = {{convert|43|ft}}
| marking=White with red roof and black lantern
| lens = fourth-order Fresnel lens (original), {{convert|250|mm|disp=flip}} solar-powered lens{{clarify|date=July 2013}} (current)
| range = White {{convert|16|nmi}}
Red {{convert|11|nmi}}
| characteristic = 35px Flashing white 5 sec, with two red sectors
| fogsignal = Horn: 1 every 15 sec
| module = {{Infobox NRHP
| name = Thomas Point Shoal Light Station
| embed = yes
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = Thomaspointshoals.PNG
| caption =
| location = Kent Island, Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis, Maryland
| area = {{convert|5|acre}}
| architect = U.S. Lighthouse Service
| architecture = Screwpile design
| refnum = 75000864{{NRISref|version=2010a}}
}}
}}
The Thomas Point Shoal Light, also known as Thomas Point Shoal Light Station, is a historic lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay on the east coast of the United States, and the most recognized lighthouse in Maryland.{{cite uscghist|MD}}{{cite uscgll|2|2012|74}}{{cite rowlett|md}} It is the only screw-pile lighthouse 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, 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 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.{{cite web
| title =Thomas Point Shoal Light
| work =Inventory of Historic Light Stations
| publisher =National Park Service
| date =December 27, 2005
| url =https://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/light/thomaspt.htm
| access-date = 2007-11-21 }} It took 30 workers to set each cast iron beam {{nowrap|{{cvt|12|ft|m}}}} 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 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 listing in 1975 and National Historic Landmark status in 1999.{{Citation|title=National Historic Landmark Nomination: Thomas Point Shoal Light Station|url={{NHLS url|id=75000864}} |format=pdf|date=January 1998 |first1=Ralph |last1=Eshelman |first2 = Candace |last2 = Clifford |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=75000864|title=Accompanying two photos, exterior, from 1885 and 1990|photos=y}} {{small|(139 KB)}}
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, the Annapolis Maritime Museum, and the [https://cheslights.org/ 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.{{cite news|author=Pacella, Rachael|title=Thomas Point Lighthouse in need of repairs|work=Baltimore Sun|date=August 19, 2019|page=2}}
The United States Coast Guard 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/tours.asp |title=Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse |access-date=2007-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022024914/http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/tours.asp |archive-date=2007-10-22 |url-status=dead | website = thomaspointlighthouse.org }} Tickets are purchased on their [https://uslhs.org/about/thomas-point-shoal-lighthouse/tours web site].
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite web|url=http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/history.asp |title=Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse: History |access-date=2007-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628220411/http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/history.asp |archive-date=2007-06-28 |url-status=dead | website = thomaspointlighthouse.org }}
- [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=425 Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse] - from Lighthousefriends.com
- {{cite book|title=The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake |last=de Gast|first=Robert |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |year=1973 |page = 79}}
External links
{{Commons category|Thomas Point Shoal Light}}
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- [https://amaritime.org/museum/thomas-point-lighthouse/ Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse]
- [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/070607/GAL-07Jun07-76818/index.html The Light in the Bay]
- [http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/ U.S. Lighthouse Society]
- [http://cblights.com/lights/thomaspointshoal.html Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Thomas Point Shoal Light]
- {{MHT url|id=272|title=Thomas Point Shoal Light, Anne Arundel County}}, including photo from 1993, at Maryland Historical Trust
{{Portal bar| Maryland|National Register of Historic Places|Engineering}}
{{Lighthouses of Maryland}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Lighthouses completed in 1875
Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Category:National Historic Landmarks in Maryland
Category:Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay
Category:National Historic Landmark lighthouses
Category:Buildings and structures in Annapolis, Maryland
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Annapolis, Maryland