The second day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

THOMAS POINT SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE
Chesapeake Bay
Off Shore Annapolis, Maryland


The only screw pile lighthouse left in Chesapeake Bay waters is the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, built on November 20, 1875. This was also the last manned lighthouse on the bay, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The light is located off the mouth of the South River at Annapolis. 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.

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 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.

This light is off shore at Annapolis, MD, and can only be reached by boat. One of the last octagonal, screw pile, lights still in the water on the East Coast. Marinas on the South and Severn Rivers would be able to provide a lead to those who would be willing to ferry passengers out to take a look.


http://www.cheslights.org/heritage/thomaspt.htm

The first day of the seventh month of the year of the OP

This image is one I could not resist. In focus, but way not enough depth of field. This morning with great light and good color, this spider had made a wonderful web in the rose bushes. Should have closed the lens way down to get a slow shutter and tiny aperture for good depth, but was in too much of a hurry to get to the River Walk.

Walked on the River Walk today for about two miles for the first time in six months. Felt good to be back, well not totally but at least am at it again. Nothing of note to photograph but the usual hard core early morning walkers, joggers, runners, and cyclists. Had to stop to talk a few times to explain why I have been missing in combat for a while, but that was good too.

A few will note that my extremely insightful commentary on current events has been missing from this blog and for good reason. I know you have been undergoing withdrawal from my razor sharp wit, but this is not the place for it. My thoughts now can be found on my Twitter sight where, for entertainment value alone, you should visit.

https://twitter.com/Skipwillits

For reasons that may take a couple of years to explain, I will from time to time be doing more than one entry to this blog per day. Not only for your reading pleasure (hopefully) but also as a personal record for my own long term purposes. As usual comments are welcomed and in fact encouraged. If you like this stuff say so, and if not keep it to yourself. Kidding! Want to hear the criticism too, but remember I get to talk back.

The 30th day of the sixth month of the year of the OP

CAPE NEDDICK LIGHTHOUSE
NUBBLE LIGHT
YORK, MAINE


This light was built on a rock just off shore at Nubble Point in Maine in 1879. An interesting cable car built for one or two people at most, runs from the parking lot at Nubble point to the “The Nubble” or rock upon which the light was built. This is the evidently the only way for people and supplies to reach the light.

President Hayes signed the order providing the huge sum of $15,000 that was spent on building this lighthouse, not a small amount in 1879. The tower is short, only forty feet, but the elevation on the rock is over 80 feet above sea level. An interesting part of the architecture displayed in this image is the walkway from the keepers house to the tower itself. Obviously, this is a requirement where the winter weather is so inclement from time to time that protection is needed to reach the tower. New England farms were also built with this feature connecting the barn and house. This feature is also seen at a number of the other Maine lights.

http://www.lighthouse.cc/capeneddick/

York beach Maine is one of the fun places to go! Not to far north from New Hampshire this beach does offer some sand but also the rocky shore where the light can be found. Of course the requisite gift shops and a really clean town. The lighthouse itself is offshore on a rock (Nubble) and can be viewed from a huge parking lot and the rocks on shore. When this image was made there were probably a hundred people waiting for the sun to go down and of course so was I.

The 29th day of the sixth month of the year of the OP

HUNTING ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE
Atlantic Ocean
Hunting Island State Park, SC

The first light at this location was erected shortly before the Civil War. It lasted only a short time, and when the war was over.....so was the tower. The Lighthouse board then selected another site on the island and built the current 128-foot cast iron light, which housed a second order Fresnel lens. It was lit in 1875.

By 1889 erosion was so brutal that it was moved some mile and a third from the previous location. Interestingly, the tower was dismantled and moved. Today of course huge lighthouse structures are being moved virtually intact, including the keepers houses and towers. A job similar to moving the space shuttle. Lighthouses on Block Island and Cape Cod come to mind as examples. This lighthouse my be visited by the public as an attraction in the State Park.

http://www.huntingisland.com/

This is one of the best little parks around the east coast for those who love the beach. Facilities are clean and for the most part not crowded and of course there is the lighthouse. Entry is inexpensive and most of the normal park like amenities are available including parking, picnic areas, showers, a freshwater lake, huge sand beaches, and safe swimming.

The 28Th day of the sixth month of the year of the OP

CONCORD POINT LIGHTHOUSE
Chesapeake Bay
Havre de Grace, Maryland

The lighthouse guarding the entrance to the Susquehanna River has for years been known as the Concord Point light, located on a point of land known since the seventeenth century as “Conquered Point”. The lighthouse is restored in a small park bordering the Bay, and offers passers by a place to rest and perhaps dream of a life long gone.

The government decided to build a light at this location and a small plot was purchased. The 39-foot tower was built for $3,500 by John Donohoo in 1827. Since its inception, this lighthouse has had five different lights installed. The first lamps were a series of nine with 16-inch reflectors. A steamer’s lens was next and sometime in the 1870’s s sixth-order Fresnel was installed. In 1892 a fifth-order lens was placed in the tower and finally a fixed green light has been shown.

A hero of the War of 1812, John O’Neill, who defended Havre de Grace against the British fleet in 1813 was named the lighthouse keeper. His direct descendants held this position until 1920 when the light was automated.

http://www.hdgtourism.com/do_museums.html

Exit left from Md. Route 40 in Havre de Grace onto Superior St. Take a right on North Union Street and follow it until it becomes South Union and then look for a left turn on Commerce St. Commerce Street leads the traveler to the town park where the lighthouse overlooks the confluence of the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay.

The 27Th day of the sixth month of the year of the OP

HOOPER STRAIT LIGHTHOUSE
St. Michaels, Maryland



The most direct passage into Tangier Sound from the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay is through Hooper Strait, a circuitous channel between Bloodsworth Island on the south, and Hooper Island and Bishops Head on the north. This area was the first site of the only lightship ever-stationed in Maryland waters (1827-1867).

In 1867 a screwpile lighthouse was built and the lightship service ended. Ten years later ice carried the building away, but the lens, lantern and some furniture was found in the wreckage five miles south of the original site along with the keepers. A new screwpile was constructed in 1879 in nine feet of water near the original site. In 1954 the light was automated and in 1966 was declared by the Coast Guard as surplus property. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum acquired it and moved to their grounds at Navy Point on the Miles River in St. Michaels, Md.

The lighthouse, 42 tons and 44 feet in diameter, is now restored to its original condition, and can be viewed daily at the museum. The whole venture of removing the structure from the water, barging it up to the Miles River and reconstructing it cost $26,000. Almost twice the original cost of the building.

http://www.cbmm.org/

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum at St. Michaels, MD is the new home of the Hooper Straight Lighthouse, as well as the skipjack "Rose Parks" pictured here in the foreground. The morning I made this image we had had some two inches of snow and I knew I needed to find a lighthouse to photograph. A spur of the moment deal. As luck would have it, by 9:00 am the weather warmed the air causing fog to come off the snow. Once again weaather making the case for great photography and a lovely image. The museum is well worth a full day's trip to St. Michaels and the great restaurants found there.

The 26Th day of the sixth month of the year of the OP

DRUM POINT

LIGHT
Chesa-

peake

Bay
Solomons,

Maryland


One of the few screw-pile lighthouses still on the bay, the current light is housed at the Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, Maryland. The type of construction utilized in this lighthouse consisted of eight, ten-inch wrought-iron piles “screwed” into the bottom of the bay to form a base upon which the hexagonal house was built. This type of construction proved over the years to be vulnerable to ice flows in the bay, and as a result the only one remaining in the bay proper is the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, offshore Annapolis. All the rest have been moved to land. They include; Seven Foot Knoll in Baltimore, Hooper Strait Lighthouse in St. Michaels, Md., and Drum Point.

The original lighthouse, erected in 1883 at a cost of $5,000, was offshore in ten feet of water, at the entrance to the Patuxent River, near Solomons Island. Originally fitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, it showed a fixed red light to ward off sailors from the sandy point. The light remained in active service until 1962. Tours of the lighthouse are now offered daily. The light is fitted as it was originally with antique furniture and lighthouse memorabilia.

The Calvert Marine Museum is in Solomons, Maryland and can be reached via Md. Rt. 4 in St. Marys County, southern Maryland. From Rt. 4 look for Solomons Island Road...the museum is located on this road. Ample parking is provided, but plan to spend a few hours in this fascinating museum. The fully restored light is but a few of the sights to see here.

http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/

This image was taken of the reflection of the lighthouse in the little inlet upon which it sits. I do of course have other photos of this historic light, but so much more fun for you all to make the trip to see it for yourselves.