Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse: A Chesapeake Bay Icon

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 mar...