Baltimore Harbor Light

The Baltimore Harbor Light, officially Baltimore Light and historically Baltimore Harbor Lighthouse is a privately owned caisson lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. First lit in 1908, it sits at the mouth of the Magothy River, marking the channel which leads northwest to the opening of the Patapsco River, which then leads into the Baltimore harbor. At the time of its construction, it was the world's tallest caisson lighthouse. In June 2006, Baltimore Light was sold at auction to private owners by the General Services Administration for $260,000; the U.S. Coast Guard maintains rights to operate a light on the structure.[5]

Baltimore Harbor Light
Baltimore Light being fitted with a radioisotope thermoelectric generator on May 20, 1964, making it the first and only nuclear-powered lighthouse in the United States. In the background is the NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant vessel.
LocationEntrance to the Magothy River, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
Coordinates39.05919°N 76.399°W / 39.05919; -76.399
Year first lit1908
Automated1964
FoundationPneumatic caisson sunk into seabed
ConstructionBrick
Tower shapeOctagonal
Markings / patternWhite with brown base
Focal height52 ft (16 m)
Original lensFifth order Fresnel lens
RangeWhite 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi)
Red 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi)
Characteristic
Flashing white 2.5 sec, with one red sector
Fog signalnone
Admiralty numberJ2228
ARLHS numberUSA-034
USCG number2-8035[1][2][3]
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Baltimore Light Station
Nearest cityGibson Island, Maryland
Arealess than one acre
Built1908
Built byFlaherty, William H.; Lande, Frederick Martin, et al
MPSLight Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP reference No.02001417[4]
Added to NRHPDecember 2, 2002

Although a lighthouse had been requested at the site since 1890, it was not until 1904 that construction actually began. In October of that year a violent storm struck the construction site, upturning the caisson and sending it to the bottom of the Bay. The contractor defaulted on the work, and it was not until late in 1905 that construction could resume. The lens was finally installed and the light lit in 1908. It was the last lighthouse to be constructed on the Chesapeake.[3]

In May 1964, the Baltimore Light became the first and only American lighthouse powered by nuclear power, as a test of the SNAP-7B 60 Watt radioisotope thermoelectric generator. One year later the RTG was removed and a conventional electric generator was installed.[6] Currently the lighthouse is solar-powered.

The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Baltimore Light Station on December 2, 2002.[4]

Notes
  1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  2. Light List, Volume II, Atlantic Coast, Shrewsbury River, New Jersey to Little River, South Carolina (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012. p. 76.
  3. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  5. Ralph E. Eshelman (March 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Baltimore Light Station" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  6. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/baltimore_nrhp.asp
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References

Media related to Baltimore Harbor Light at Wikimedia Commons

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