Lighthouse lovers will not want to miss Chesapeake Lights on Saturday, January 16 at the Calvert Marine Museum from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Lighthouse representatives from the Mid-Atlantic will host displays and exhibits in the museum lobby with a presentation by Wayne Kirklin at 2:00 p.m. in the auditorium. The displays and lecture are free and open to the public. Special lighthouse gifts will be available in the museum store.
The Annapolis Maritime Museum will feature the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, the last screwpile structure left on its original site in the Chesapeake Bay. It began service on November 27, 1875, to replace a light on the shore at Thomas Point at the entrance to the South River. A screwpile with a hexagonal 1-1/2-story building perched on the spidery legs, the light’s lantern rises out of the center of the building. The light and fog signal, both now automated, are still active.
Volunteers from the Lightship Overfalls, the last lightship built by the United States Lighthouse Service, will also have a display. The Lighthship Overfalls was commissioned in 1938 and was considered at that time to be “state of the art” in lightship design. Between 1938 and 1972 it was stationed at three different lightship stations: first, at Cornfield Point off the coast of Connecticut, then at the Cross Rip Station off the coast of Massachusetts, and finally the Boston Station, just off Cape Cod. After suffering major structural damage in a December, 1970 storm, the Overfalls was taken out of service in 1971, and decommissioned in 1972. The Coast Guard later turned it over to the Lewes Historical Society in 1973.
A bit closer to home, the Baltimore Harbor Light has guided northbound vessels to the Port of Baltimore, and southbound vessels on their way to the Atlantic Ocean for one hundred years. Commissioned in 1908, Baltimore Harbor Light was the last lighthouse constructed on the Chesapeake Bay, and the most challenging to build. Representatives will share the amazing story of its construction and the remarkable details of this three story octagonal brick cottage constructed atop a one hundred and three foot tall concrete and stone filled cast-iron caisson.
While visiting the museum, take a tour of our own Drum Point Lighthouse, another cottage style lighthouse that was built in 1883 and moved to the museum waterfront in 1975, after being decommissioned.
Wayne Kirklin, Associate Historian from the Overfalls Maritime Museum Foundation, in Lewes, Delaware will present Lightships: Floating Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic at 2:00 p.m. in the museum auditorium.
The Calvert Marine Museum has provided history, education, and culture to Southern Maryland for 40 years. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and military with valid I.D., and $2 for children ages 5 – 12; children under 5 are free. For a complete listing of museum activities, events, and programs, visit the website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com or call (410) 326-2042 ext. 17 for more information.