The tenth day of the first month

MINDING THE ROOTS AT TAVERN CREEK-15

While the little fourteen footer was not enough boat to get us down below the Bay Bridge from Gratitude, as the years past the boats got larger and my childhood drive to roam sparked visits to exotic places like Annapolis, Maryland.  If this sentence is confusing, you must go back to last year's entries regarding "Tavern Creek", my childhood, and a little boat.

Recently I have been using some sepia tones for a few of the lighthouse images I have made over the years.  More regression to my childhood perhaps.  But this way, when they repaint them a different color .... no one will know.  Lazy huh?  But sepia, to me, represents a time gone by which is what the functionality of the lights has become.  A tourist destination now and not so much a maritime necessity.  But then that's progress.  Or maybe it isn't.  Even as a day mark, these lights lend a certain sense of relief to the mariner.  I've been there and it's true.  And the lights are still a special part of the maritime history in most countries.

THOMAS POINT SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE

The only screw pile lighthouse left in Chesapeake Bay waters is the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, built on November 20, 1875. This in fact may be the only screw pile platform for an octagonal house left in the water.  Thomas Point was also the last manned lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The light is located off the mouth of the South River at Annapolis, Maryland.

The original light at this location was built on a seven-acre parcel of land on Thomas Point. The land was sold to the government for $530 in 1824, and the following year the first light was built by John Donohoo on that point of land. This was the first lighthouse constructed by Donohoo, who went on to build several more around the bay including Concord Point at Havre De Grace. This first light was doomed because of Donohoo’s relative inexperience and by 1838, it had to be rebuilt. The total cost of the original light surpassed $5,600.

Remember to click on the photos for better resolutions.

In 1882 it became apparent to the Lighthouse Board that the light, in its original location, was of little use because it was so removed from the expanding shoal. A new and less expensive screw pile light was constructed and remains today.  The "Screws" were twisted into the bottom of the bay or river and a platform was constructed to hold the keeper's house and light tower.  The land on the point where the original house was built was sold to private interests for $426, one hundred dollars less than the original purchase price.  While this type of construction was deemed less expensive in the short run.....in the long run it was more costly because annual ice flows would cut the spindly legs and virtually dismember the entire structure.  This one has been protected by the rip rap (stones) around the base and has lasted all these years.

Here is the wikipedia link for the lighthouse.

http://en.wikipedia.o/rg/wiki/Thomas_Point_Shoal_Light

And some interesting photography at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/violinconcertono3/