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 Maryland Manual On-Line, 2020

July 31, 2020

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MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

WATERWAYS

LIGHTHOUSES

[photo, Seven-Foot Knoll Lighthouse (Historic Ships in Baltimore), Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland] Lighthouses are found in Maryland's rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

Under contract for the United States Government, John Donahoo (1786–1858) of Havre de Grace built twelve of Maryland's lighthouses. These include the Blackistone Island Lighthouse, Clay Island Lighthouse, Concord Point Lighthouse, Cove Point Lighthouse, Fishing Battery Lighthouse, Fog Point Lighthouse, Lazaretto Point Lighthouse, Piney Point Lighthouse, Point Lookout Lighthouse, Pooles Island Lighthouse, Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, and the Turkey Point Lighthouse.

Seven-Foot Knoll Lighthouse (Historic Ships in Baltimore), Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, June 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

Lighthouses are structures built on or near shore that produce a beam of light, marking coastlines, underwater dangers, or harbor entrances, as a navigational aid for sailors.

Early lighthouses were simple and inexpensive. Some were built as integral lighthouses (houses with enclosed lights on top), while others were towers from which a light shone. Later, lighthouses tended to be more elaborate and therefore more costly to build.

Screw-pile lighthouses were structures perched on iron piles or stilts that were screwed into the sea floor, while caisson lighthouses displayed towers built atop round, hollow waterproof shells that were sunk to the bottom and filled with sand or concrete.

[photo, Lightship 116 Chesapeake (Historic Ships in Baltimore), Pier 3, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland] AIDS TO NAVIGATION

Lightships were ships that served as lighthouses. They had a light mounted on a tall mast. Later vessels usually were painted bright red with the station name in white letters. Multi-functional, they could be stationed in both shallow and deep waters, and could be moved according to need.


Lightship 116 Chesapeake (Historic Ships in Baltimore), Pier 3, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, July 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

[photo, Green-lighted buoy, marking port (left) side of Baltimore Harbor channel for incoming vessels, Baltimore, Maryland] Buoys, like lighthouses, serve as aids to navigation (ATON) for mariners. Usually anchored in place, buoys are floating iron markers that indicate sea lanes, mooring locations, speed limits, as well as underwater hazards, such as rocks, shoals, and wrecks. Using the Lateral System, buoys are arranged by color, shape, number, and whether they have a light.

Nun buoys are red, cylindrical, and have even numbers. They mark the starboard (right) side of the channel for vessels returning to land (thus the "3R" rule: "red, right, returning").

Green-lighted buoy, marking port (left) side of Baltimore Harbor channel for incoming vessels, Baltimore, Maryland, July 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

Can buoys are green, can-shaped, and have odd numbers. They indicate the port (left) side of the channel for incoming vessels.

Lighted buoys usually are found in deeper water, and their body and light color vary depending on their location. When they are green (including the light), they perform the same duties as can buoys, marking the port side of a channel for incoming vessels. When red, they mark the starboard side, like nun buoys. If buoys are red and green, the top color (with matching light, if present) indicates the preferred channel, and they may have letters.

[photo, Hooper Strait Lighthouse, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, Maryland] Safe Water Marks indicate navigable water all around. They are red and white and may have a white light and sound device, as well as letters.

Isolated Danger Marks are anchored on or near hidden dangers. They are black with red bands, and may have a white light and letters.


Hooper Strait Lighthouse at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels (Talbot County), Maryland, August 2016. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

Special Aids, yellow buoys with or without yellow lights and letters, alert mariners to nets, cables, jetties, military exercise areas, and other special areas. Mooring buoys are white with a blue band, and they may have a white light or reflector.

MARYLAND LIGHTHOUSES
(by county)

 ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY
  • Baltimore Lighthouse [also known as Baltimore Harbor Light] (Caisson lighthouse)
      First lit in 1908
      Automated in 1964 (first lighthouse in nation to use nuclear power)
  • Bodkin Island Lighthouse (Tower lighthouse)
  • Greenbury Point Lighthouse (Intergral lighthouse)
      First lit in 1848
      Deactivated in 1891 (replaced by Greenbury Point Shoal Lighthouse)
      Dismantled
  • Greenbury Point Shoal Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
      First lit in 1892 (replaced Greenbury Point Light)
      Deactivated in 1934
      Dismantled; replaced with skeleton tower
  • Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse (Caisson lighthouse)
      First lit in 1883
      Automated in 1963
  • Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse (last manned lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay; only lighthouse still standing on original site) (Screw-pile lighthouse)
    First lit in 1875
    Automated in 1986
BALTIMORE CITY

[photo, Fort McHenry Channel Range Front Light, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Baltimore, Maryland] [photo, Fort McHenry Channel Range Rear Light, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Baltimore, Maryland]

  • Fort McHenry Channel Range Front Light (Skeleton tower)
    First lit in 1913 (current structure in 1934)
  • Fort McHenry Channel Range Rear Light (Skeleton tower)
    First lit in 1934 (current structure in 1963)
  • Hawkins Point Lighthouse [also known as Brewerton Range Front Light] (Screw-pile lighthouse)
    First lit in 1868
    Deactivated in 1924 (replaced with skeleton tower)
    Dismantled

    • Fort McHenry Channel Range Front Light (left), Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine, Baltimore, Maryland, June 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    Fort McHenry Channel Range Rear Light (right), Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine, Baltimore, Maryland, October 2016. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    [photo, Lazaretto Point Lighthouse replica, Baltimore, Maryland]
    • Lazaretto Point Lighthouse (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1831
        Automated in 1916
        Deactivated in 1926
        Dismantled; replica built near site
    • Leading Point Lighthouse [also known as Brewerton Range Rear Light] (Integral lighthouse)
        First lit in 1868
        Deactivated in 1924 (replaced with skeleton tower)
        Dismantled


    Lazaretto Point Lighthouse replica, Baltimore, Maryland, July 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    [photo, Lightship 116 Chesapeake (Historic Ships in Baltimore), Pier 3, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland]
  • Lightship 116 Chesapeake
    Commissioned in 1930
    Decommissioned in 1971



    • Lightship 116 Chesapeake (Historic Ships in Baltimore), Pier 3, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, July 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    [photo, Seven-Foot Knoll Lighthouse (Historic Ships in Baltimore), Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland]
  • Seven-Foot Knoll Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse - oldest screw-pile lighthouse in Maryland)
    First lit in 1855 (replaced Bodkin Island Light)
    Automated in 1949
    Deactivated in 1988
    Relocated to Baltimore's Inner Harbor (originally located at mouth of Patapsco River, Anne Arundel County)



    • Seven-Foot Knoll Lighthouse (Historic Ships in Baltimore), Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, June 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    BALTIMORE COUNTY
    • Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Lighthouse (Caisson lighthouse - first in Chesapeake Bay)
        First lit in 1873
        Automated in 1964
    • Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Lighthouse (tallest lighthouse in Maryland) (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1873
        Automated in 1937
    • Craighill Channel (Cutoff Channel) Upper Range Front Lighthouse (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1886 (replaced North Point Range West Light)
        Automated in 1929
    • Craighill Channel (Cutoff Channel) Upper Range Rear Lighthouse (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1886
        Automated in 1929
    • Fort Carroll Lighthouse (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1854 (current light in 1898)
        Deactivated in 1931
        Abandoned; now a bird sanctuary
    • North Point Range East Lighthouse (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1822
        Deactivated in 1873 (replaced in function by Craighill Channel Upper Range Rear Lighthouse)
        Abandoned and destroyed
    • North Point Range West Lighthouse (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1822
        Deactivated in 1873 (replaced by Craighill Channel Upper Range Front Lighthouse)
        Dismantled
    [photo, Drum Point Lighthouse, Solomons, Maryland] CALVERT COUNTY



    Drum Point Lighthouse, Solomons, Maryland, April 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    CECIL COUNTY
    • Turkey Point Lighthouse (part of Elk Neck State Park) (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1833
        Automated in 1947
        Deactivated 2000-02 (decommissioned in 2000 by U.S. Coast Guard, but relit in 2002 by TPLS as a "private aid to navigation")

    CHARLES COUNTY

    • Cobb Point Bar Lighthouse [also known as Cobb Island Bar Light] (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1889
        Deactivated in 1940 (replaced with beacon)
        Damaged by fire and dismantled
    • Lower Cedar Point Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1867
        Deactivated in 1951 (replaced with skeleton tower)
        Dismantled
    • Maryland Point Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1892
        Automated in 1954
        Deactivated in 1963 (replaced with skeleton tower)
        Dismantled
    • Mathias Point Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1876
        Automated in 1951
        Deactivated in 1961 (replaced with skeleton tower)
        Dismantled
    • Upper Cedar Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1867
        Deactivated 1876-82, 1963 (replaced with beacon)
        Dismantled

    DORCHESTER COUNTY

    • Clay Island Lighthouse (Integral lighthouse)
        First lit in 1832
        Deactivated in 1892 (replaced by Sharkfin Shoal Light)
        Abandoned and destroyed
    • Holland Island Bar Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1889
        Deactivated in 1960 (replaced with skeleton tower)
        Dismantled
    • Hooper Island Lighthouse (Caisson lighthouse)
        First lit in 1902
        Automated in 1961
    • Sharkfin Shoal Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1892 (replaced Clay Island Light)
        Deactivated in 1964 (replaced with skeleton tower)
        Dismantled

    HARFORD COUNTY

    [photo, Concord Point Lighthouse, 700 Concord St., Havre de Grace, Maryland]
  • Concord Point Lighthouse (northernmost lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay) (Tower lighthouse)
      First lit in 1827
      Automated in 1920
      Deactivated in 1975 (now a museum)



    • Concord Point Lighthouse, 700 Concord St., Havre de Grace Maryland, June 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    [photo, Concord Point Lighthouse Keeper's House, 700 Concord St., Havre de Grace, Maryland]
    • Fishing Battery Lighthouse (Integral lighthouse)
      First lit in 1853
      Automated (tower light) in 1939
      Deactivated (original light) in 1921 (replaced with skeleton tower)
      Abandoned


    Concord Point Lighthouse Keeper's House, 700 Concord St., Havre de Grace Maryland, June 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    • Pooles Island Lighthouse (oldest surviving lighthouse in Maryland) (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1825
        Automated in 1918
        Deactivated 1939-2011 (relit by U.S. Army on May 21, 2011)

    PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

    • Fort Washington Lighthouse (part of Fort Washington Park) (Tower lighthouse - converted fog bell tower)
        First light atop pole in 1857 (light pole replaced with lighthouse tower in 1870; current structure built in 1882 as fog bell tower, but converted to lighthouse and lit in 1901)
        Automated in 1954

    QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY

    • Bloody Point Bar Lighthouse (Caisson lighthouse)
        First lit in 1882
        Automated in 1961
    • Love Point Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1872
        Automated in 1953
        Deactivated in 1964 (replaced with automated light)
        Dismantled

    ST. MARY'S COUNTY

    • Blackistone (Blakistone) Island Lighthouse (part of St. Clement’s Island State Park) (Integral lighthouse)
        First lit in 1851
        Automated in 1932
        Destroyed by fire in 1956 and razed; replica completed in 2008
    • Cedar Point Lighthouse (Integral lighthouse)
        First lit in 1896
        Deactivated in 1928
        Dismantled
    • Piney Point Lighthouse (Tower lighthouse)
        First lit in 1836
        Deactivated in 1964 (now a museum)
    • Point Lookout Lighthouse (part of Point Lookout State Park) (Integral lighthouse)
        First lit in 1830
        Deactivated in 1966
    • Point No Point Lighthouse (Caisson lighthouse)
        First lit in 1905
        Automated in 1938
    • Ragged Point Lighthouse (last lighthouse built in Maryland) (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1910
        Deactivated in 1962 (replaced with skeleton tower)
        Dismantled

    SOMERSET COUNTY

    • Fog Point Lighthouse (Integral lighthouse)
        First lit in 1827
        Deactivated in 1875 (replaced by Solomons Lump Light)
        Abandoned and destroyed
    • Janes Island Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1867 (first lighthouse destroyed by ice; second light lit in 1879)
        Deactivated in 1935 (replaced with skeleton tower)
        Destroyed
    • Solomons Lump Lighthouse (Caisson lighthouse)
        First lit in 1875 (replaced Fog Point Light) (first lighthouse destroyed by ice; current structure lit in 1895)
        Automated in 1950
    • Somers Cove Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1867
        Deactivated in 1932 (replaced with skeleton tower)
        Dismantled
    [photo, Hooper Strait Lighthouse, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, Maryland] TALBOT COUNTY
  • Choptank River Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
      First lighthouse lit in 1871 (first lighthouse destroyed by ice; second lighthouse (formerly Cherrystone Bar Light) lit in 1921)
      Deactivated in 1964 (replaced with skeleton tower)
      Dismantled
      Replica built in Cambridge

  • Hooper Strait Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
      First lit in 1867 (first lighthouse dislodged by ice; second light lit in 1879)
      Automated in 1954
      Deactivated in 1966
      Relocated to Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (originally located in Hooper Strait, Dorchester County)

    • Hooper Strait Lighthouse at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels (Talbot County), Maryland, August 2016. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    • Sharps Island Lighthouse (Caisson lighthouse)
        First lit in 1838 (first lighthouse replaced; second lighthouse lit in 1866; second lighthouse dislodged by ice; current lighthouse lit in 1882)
        Automated in 1938
        Damaged by ice
        Deactivated in 2010

    WICOMICO COUNTY

    • Great Shoals Lighthouse (Screw-pile lighthouse)
        First lit in 1884
        Deactivated in 1966 (replaced with automated light)
        Dismantled

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