Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse: A Chesapeake Bay Icon

by David Gendell

Overview

For centuries, the hard-packed shoal at Thomas Point menaced Chesapeake Bay mariners. Even after two separate stone towers were built on the shoreline, sailors continued to request a light at the end of the mile-long shoal. When a new lighthouse was finally approved in 1873, experts deemed its novel design too fragile for the location—it was built anyway. Long overdue and of an inappropriate design, the iconic Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse was lit in November 1875 and continues to serve mariners. Thomas Point is the last Chesapeake Bay screwpile-style lighthouse in its original location and one of only twelve American lighthouses designated as a National Historic Landmark. Join Annapolis sailor David Gendell as he explores Thomas Point.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467145978
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	10/12/2020
Series:	Landmarks
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	673,086
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

A lifelong Chesapeake Bay sailor, David Gendell is the cofounder of SpinSheet, the Annapolis-based Chesapeake Bay sailing magazine. He is a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain, an accomplished racing sailor and an aspiring fisherman. He is a Distinguished Alumni of St. Mary's High School in Annapolis and, between sailing adventures, graduated from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. He lives in Annapolis with his family.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Introduction 9

The Shoal 15

First Encounters 16

War Arrives at the Shoal 21

Baltimore Rising 29

Towers on the Shore 38

Lenses, Lamps and Lanterns 49

A New Lighthouse Authority 53

Screwpiles on the Shoals 59

The Right Spot, the Wrong Lighthouse 62

Building the Lighthouse on the Shoal 66

Lemuel Mitchell and the Oyster Navy 81

The First Keeper on the Shoal 92

The Ice Emergency 97

The Oyster Wars Turn Deadly 108

Living Aboard: 1800s 116

A Keeper Mysteriously Disappears 124

Tongers Trespass at the Light 129

The Point Breaks Up and Is Sold Off 134

1933 Hurricane at Thomas Point 138

Living Aboard: 1900s 141

Reprieve in the 1970s 144

The Last Keepers 147

Automation in the 1980s 150

Structure, Current and Depth: Fish at Thomas Point 153

Transition at Thomas Point 162

New Life at Thomas Point 167

The Lighthouse Today 178

Screwpiles on the Chesapeake 185

Thomas Point Timeline 191

Bibliography 197

Index 199

About the Author 205