Getaway Guide To Chesapeake Bay Lighthouses
There is a magical quality in a lighthouse. Collectively they have guided seafarers to safe harbors and destinations. They have sent out rescue parties in storm tossed seas to save those who foundered on forbidding shoals, and they stand as reminders of navigational hazards in days before modern electronics took root. Nowhere on the east coast is there a more fascinating collection of lighthouses than on the nearby Chesapeake Bay. Some you can visit in museum settings, others you can view from tour boat cruises or on your own final cruise of the fall season. Here's a thumbnail look at some to be found on the easy to reach upper bay. – Jay Lloyd
HOOPER STRAIGHT LIGHTHOUSE
213 N. Talbot St.
St. Michaels, MD 21663
cbmm.org/
The Hooper Straight Lighthouse no longer guards the dangerous waters off Tangier Sound. In 1966 it was moved to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum as a permanent reminder of the isolated and fascinating lives of past generations of American lighthouse keepers. It's a perfectly preserved example of the "screwpile" lighthouse, a cottage on stilts that was literally screwed in the floor of the bay. Visitors can roam through the living quarters that have been faithfully preserved right down to a table set for Coast Guard keepers who will never return. Examine the powerful lantern that served as a beacon to seaman since 1879.
SEVEN FOOT KNOLL LIGHT
Pier 5, Inner Harbor
Baltimore, MD
historicships.org/
Another preserved screwpile lighthouse, Seven Foot knoll had been planted at the mouth of the Patapsco River, the waterway leading to the bustling harbor at Baltimore. It's now a rich part of the Maritime Museum historic ships display at the Inner Harbor. Volunteers guide visitors through the lighthouse and recount the history of storms, rescues and daily life during the 18th century operations by the U.S. Lighthouse Service before the 1939 transfer to Coast Guard stewardship.
FORT CARROLL LIGHT
Approach to Baltimore Harbor
While you're in the neighborhood, take one of a variety of tour boats with frequent sailings from the Inner Harbor that take visitors beyond the Francis Scott Key bridge. On an abandoned island, you'll spot the decaying Fort Carroll Light built before the Civil War. Robert E. Lee, then a Union officer had a role in it's construction. But the fort saw only sporadic use and was finally abandoned after World War II. It's light had been extinguished in the 30's.
THOMAS POINT LIGHT
Western Shore south of Annapolis
ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=tplm2
This is probably the most photographed lighthouse on the 200 mile reach of the Chesapeake Bay. Lovingly restored, painted and shined by volunteers, it is still in operation and serves as a key weather station located between Annapolis and the entrance to the West and Rhode Rivers. Built in 1875 at a cost of $35,000, it became the last of the manned Chesapeake lighthouse until fully automated in 1986. It's light can be seen for 11 miles.
BALTIMORE LIGHT
Approach to the Magothy River
Recreational boaters know the Baltimore Light best as a waypoint to the popular anchorages in the Magothy River south of Baltimore. But to pilots and skippers, driving freighters, tankers and warships up the bay to the port of Baltimore it's a navigation anchor on the channel that will put them in the Patapsco River and the last leg of their Baltimore passage. The structure is the last caisson style octagonal brick lighthouse to be built. It has been guiding mariners since 1908 and had been designed with living quarters for keepers and their families. A small boat raised above the bay on davits was their sole means of getting to shore.
SANDY POINT LIGHT
Western shore just north of the Bay Bridge
I have a small sculpture of the Sandy Point Lighthouse on the mantle alongside a model of a bay schooner. Returning to home port in Rock Hall, Maryland on the eastern shore, the sight of this caisson lighthouse always reminds me that I'm just a little over two hours from a cold beer. If you don't have access to a boat for a fall cruise, you can see it on a visit to Sandy Point State Park on your way to a weekend in Annapolis.
BLOODY POINT LIGHT
Eastern shore entrance to the Eastern Bay
I always loved the name. It was a graphic reminder of serious trouble if you ignored the shoal that waits for careless boaters on the landward side of the Bloody Point Light. It's also a bit of a hard luck light. It's been battered by storms, knocked askew on its foundation and still has a tilt. In 1966 it was gutted by fire that forced the keepers to flee. But it still plays a vital role for boaters traveling from the popular St. Michaels waterfront to the open waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Once you safely round Bloody Point, you're clear to Annapolis, Baltimore, Rock Hall and points north. You'll need a boat to see this one.
Note: If you have an interest in learning more about lighthouse heritage, volunteering in preservation efforts or just taking lighthouse tours, check out the web site of the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society at: cheslights.org
