Cove Point Light

38°23′10.5″N 76°22′54.3″W / 38.386250°N 76.381750°W / 38.386250; -76.381750TowerConstructed1828ConstructionbrickAutomated1986Height16 m (52 ft) Shapeconical towerMarkingswhite HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place LightFirst lit1828 Focal height45 feet (14 m)Lensfourth-order Fresnel lensRange12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi)CharacteristicFlashing white, 10 sec. Area4 acres (1.6 ha)NRHP reference No.73000907^[1]Added to NRHPApril 11, 1973

The Cove Point Light is a lighthouse located on the west side of Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Maryland.^[2][3][4]

History

This light was built in 1828 by John Donahoo, who erected a brick conical tower along the plan he had used at several other sites in the Bay. In 1825 Congress had allocated funds to build a light at Cedar Point, four miles south at the mouth of the Patuxent River, but further consideration led to a decision to mark Cove Point and the shoal which jutted into the bay. A new appropriation in 1828 allowed construction of the light and keeper's house in the same year.^[5]

The original Argand lamps were replaced in 1855 with a fifth-order Fresnel lens; this in turn was upgraded to a fourth-order lens in 1857. A fog bell added in 1837 was moved several times and was mounted on both wood and iron towers before ending up on the roof of a wooden shed built in 1902 to house a foghorn. The foghorn equipment was moved in 1950 to a separate brick building, but the fog bell remains on the shed. Erosion was a significant problem, but was eventually brought under control through a seawall initially constructed in 1892 and upgraded in 1913 and 1993.^[6]

The keeper's house was enlarged in 1881 when it was converted to a duplex with housing for two keepers and their families. and again in 1925 when inside kitchens were installed. In 1950 a separate small house was built as home to a third keeper and his family.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 as Cove Point Lighthouse. The keepers remained until 1986 when the light was finally automated. The light was in good condition, with much equipment remaining from prior years, when it was turned over to Calvert County in 2000. Since then it has been administered by the Calvert Marine Museum, which allows access to the light and grounds in the summer months.

Cove Point remains an active aid to navigation and is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay.

Notes

References

• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
• Cove Point Lighthouse at lighthousefriends.com
• Cove Point Light, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
• de Gast, Robert (1973). The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 74–77. ISBN 9780801815485.
• Cove Point Lighthouse at Calvert Marine Museum website
• Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Cove Point Light

External links

Media related to Cove Point Light at Wikimedia Commons

• Cove Point Light, Calvert County, including photo from 2001, at Maryland Historical Trust