Hooper Strait Lighthouse at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
From Sunday in St. Michaels Maryland. All of the 19th century screw pile lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay, except Thomas Point Light, have been moved to museum settings.
Following the war, the Lighthouse Board took advantage of the opportunity to implement a long-desired plan, namely to replace lightships, wherever possible, by permanent structures that were less costly to build and maintain. During the twelve-month-period ending June 30, 1867, screwpile lighthouses were erected at eight stations in the Fifth Lighthouse District that were formerly served by lightships for a total cost of $121,001.
The screwpile lighthouse placed in Hooper Strait consisted of a square dwelling surmounted by a lantern room, and it first exhibited its fifth-order light on the night of September 14, 1867. The structure served faithfully for nearly ten years before being destroyed by ice on January 11, 1877. Three days of building ice and tidal pressure was enough to snap the bolts that held the foundation braces together, and the unsupported dwelling quickly sank up to its roofline, with John S. Cornwell, the light’s second head keeper, and his assistant Alexander S. Conway still on station. The two keepers escaped the lighthouse using one of the station’s boats, which they pulled over the ice.
For twenty-four hours, the keepers remained stranded on the ice with only the boat to shelter them. Captain Murphy of Billy’s Island finally rescued the keepers, who suffered severe frostbite from the prolonged exposure.
More info here:
www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=426
Do view large for more detail
Hooper Strait Lighthouse at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
From Sunday in St. Michaels Maryland. All of the 19th century screw pile lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay, except Thomas Point Light, have been moved to museum settings.
Following the war, the Lighthouse Board took advantage of the opportunity to implement a long-desired plan, namely to replace lightships, wherever possible, by permanent structures that were less costly to build and maintain. During the twelve-month-period ending June 30, 1867, screwpile lighthouses were erected at eight stations in the Fifth Lighthouse District that were formerly served by lightships for a total cost of $121,001.
The screwpile lighthouse placed in Hooper Strait consisted of a square dwelling surmounted by a lantern room, and it first exhibited its fifth-order light on the night of September 14, 1867. The structure served faithfully for nearly ten years before being destroyed by ice on January 11, 1877. Three days of building ice and tidal pressure was enough to snap the bolts that held the foundation braces together, and the unsupported dwelling quickly sank up to its roofline, with John S. Cornwell, the light’s second head keeper, and his assistant Alexander S. Conway still on station. The two keepers escaped the lighthouse using one of the station’s boats, which they pulled over the ice.
For twenty-four hours, the keepers remained stranded on the ice with only the boat to shelter them. Captain Murphy of Billy’s Island finally rescued the keepers, who suffered severe frostbite from the prolonged exposure.
More info here:
www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=426
Do view large for more detail