Location | 2 miles West of Matthias Point in the Potomac River |
---|---|
Coordinates | 38°24′10″N77°04′57″W / 38.4027°N 77.0826°W Coordinates: 38°24′10″N77°04′57″W / 38.4027°N 77.0826°W |
Tower | |
Foundation | screw-pile |
Construction | cast-iron/wood |
Shape | square house |
Light | |
First lit | 1867 |
Deactivated | 1963 |
Focal height | 4.5 m (15 ft) |
Characteristic | Fl R 6s |
The Upper Cedar Point Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Potomac River in Maryland. It was first lit in 1867 and served, except for a brief period of inactivity, until being dismantled in 1963.
The station had been served by a lightvessel since 1821. In 1867 a small square screw-pile structure was constructed at the site. It served until 1876, when the Mathias Point Light was constructed to the east. The Lighthouse Board received numerous complaints, however, and reactivated the light in 1882. Five years after the lighthouse was re-lit, Thomas Edwin Speake was the keeper. It remained active until 1963, when it was dismantled and replaced with a small automatic tower mounted on the original foundation.
Upper Cedar Point Light was tended by a black keeper and assistant keeper for a time in the 1870s, one of the few American lighthouses to be so served.
A screw-pile lighthouse is a lighthouse which stands on piles that are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms. The first screw-pile lighthouse to begin construction was built by the blind Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell. Construction began in 1838 at the mouth of the Thames and was known as the Maplin Sands lighthouse, and first lit in 1841. However, though its construction began later, the Wyre Light in Fleetwood, Lancashire, was the first to be lit.
The Seven Foot Knoll Light was built in 1855 and is the oldest screw-pile lighthouse in Maryland. It was located atop Seven Foot Knoll in the Chesapeake Bay until it was replaced by a modern navigational aid and relocated to Baltimore's Inner Harbor as a museum exhibit.
The Thomas Point Shoal Light, also known as Thomas Point Shoal Light Station, is a historic lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay on the east coast of the United States, and the most recognized lighthouse in Maryland. It is the only screw-pile lighthouse in the bay which stands at its original site. The current structure is a 1½ story hexagonal wooden cottage, equipped with a foghorn as well as the light.
The Holland Island Bar Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay which existed from 1889 to 1960. It is remembered for the unexplained death of one of its keepers, and for being "attacked" by United States Navy pilots during a training exercise.
The Mathias Point Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Potomac River in Maryland; the station was located near the Port Tobacco River. It was particularly noted for its ornate woodwork.
Solomons Lump Light is a lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, the abbreviated remains of a caisson light built in 1895. That structure replaced a screw-pile light built on the same spot in 1875, which in turn superseded the Fog Point Light.
The Choptank River Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located near Oxford, Maryland. In its second incarnation it was the only such light moved from another location in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Somers Cove Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located near Crisfield, Maryland. Dismantled early, its remains are a landmark to watermen in the area.
The Maryland Point Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located in the Potomac River.
The Ragged Point Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located in the Potomac River. It was the last lighthouse built in Maryland waters and the last built at a location in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Cobb Point Bar Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located in the Potomac River.
The Cove Point Light is a lighthouse located on the west side of Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Maryland.
The Sharkfin Shoal Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located at the mouth of the Nanticoke River in Chesapeake Bay, US.
The Lower Cedar Point Light was a historic lighthouse in the Potomac River near its eponymous point, south of the present U.S. Route 301 bridge. It has been replaced by a skeleton tower.
Love Point Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, off the northern end of Kent Island, Maryland.
Great Shoals Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Wicomico River.
Drum Point Light is one of four surviving Chesapeake Bay screw-pile lighthouses. Originally located off Drum Point at the mouth of the Patuxent River, it is now an exhibit at the Calvert Marine Museum.
Hooper Strait Light is one of four surviving Chesapeake Bay screw-pile lighthouses in the U.S. state of Maryland. Originally located in Hooper Strait, between Hooper and Bloodsworth Islands in Dorchester County and at the entrance to Tangier Sound, it is now an exhibit at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland.
The Cedar Point Light was the last house-type lighthouse built in the Chesapeake Bay. An early victim of shoreline erosion, the cupola and gables are preserved at museums.
The Janes Island Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located near Crisfield in the U.S. state of Maryland. Twice destroyed by ice, it was replaced in 1935 with an automated beacon.