The Maryland Point Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located in the Potomac River.

Maryland Point Light
Map
Locationoff Maryland Point in the Potomac River, East of Fairview Beach, Virginia
Coordinates38°20′58″N 77°11′51″W / 38.3495°N 77.1975°W / 38.3495; -77.1975
Tower
Foundationscrew-pile
Constructioncast-iron/wood
Automated1954
Shapehexagonal house
Light
First lit1892
Deactivated1963
Focal height13 m (43 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
Lensfourth-order Fresnel lens
CharacteristicFI W 6s, R sector Edit this on Wikidata

History

edit

A light was first proposed for the shoal at Maryland Point in 1887, but an appropriation was not made until 1890. The original proposal was to construct a caisson light, but tests of the bottom convinced the engineers that a screw-pile structure could be made to work. The house was assembled at the Lazaretto Depot in the fall of 1892, and the light was first exhibited in December of that year.

The light was automated in 1954 and dismantled in 1963.

References

edit
  • "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • Maryland Point Light, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
  • de Gast, Robert (1973). The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 157.
edit