Baltimore Harbor Light

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.

Location	Entrance to the Magothy River, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
Coordinates	39°03′33″N 76°23′56″W / 39.05919°N 76.399°W / 39.05919; -76.399Coordinates: 39°03′33″N 76°23′56″W / 39.05919°N 76.399°W / 39.05919; -76.399
Year first lit	1908
Automated	1964
Foundation	Pneumatic caisson sunk into seabed
Construction	Brick
Tower shape	Octagonal
Markings / pattern	White with brown base
Focal height	52 ft (16 m)
Original lens	Fifth order Fresnel lens
Range	White 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 signal	none
ARLHS number	USA-034
USCG number	2-8035 ^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

Baltimore Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Gibson Island, Maryland
Area	less than one acre
Built	1908
Built by	Flaherty, William H.; Lande, Frederick Martin, et al
MPS	Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP Reference #	02001417^[4]
Added to NRHP	December 2, 2002

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]

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

↑ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
↑ 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.
1 2 Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
1 2 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
↑ Ralph E. Eshelman (March 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Baltimore Light Station" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
↑ http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/baltimore_nrhp.asp

References

Baltimore Harbor Lighthouse, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society.
History of Baltimore Lighthouse, from Lighthousefriends.
de Gast, Robert (1973). The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 86–89.

External links

Baltimore Light Station, Anne Arundel County, including photo from 1991, at Maryland Historical Trust
Baltimore Harbor Light. New owners as of 2006.
Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Baltimore Light

Lighthouses of Maryland

Baltimore Harbor Light Blakistone Island Light Bloody Point Bar Light Bodkin Island Light Cedar Point Light Choptank River Light Clay Island Light Cobb Point Bar Light Concord Point Light Cove Point Light Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light Craighill Channel Upper Range Front Light Craighill Channel Upper Range Rear Light Drum Point Light Fishing Battery Light Fog Point Light Fort Carroll Light Fort Washington Light Great Shoals Light Greenbury Point Light Hawkins Point Light Holland Island Bar Light Hooper Island Light Hooper Strait Light Janes Island Light Lazaretto Point Light Leading Point Light Love Point Light Lower Cedar Point Light Maryland Point Light Mathias Point Light North Point Range Lights Piney Point Light Point Lookout Light Point No Point Light Pooles Island Light Ragged Point Light Sandy Point Shoal Light Seven Foot Knoll Light Sharkfin Shoal Light Sharps Island Light Solomons Lump Light Somers Cove Light Thomas Point Shoal Light Triton Light Turkey Point Light Upper Cedar Point Light

Baltimore Harbor approaches

Craighill Channel (lower)	Baltimore Light Front Range Light Rear Range Light

Upper Craighill Channel (cutoff)	Seven Foot Knoll Light Front Range Light Rear Range Light

Brewerton Channel	Hawkins Point Light (front range) Leading Point Light (rear range)

U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Maryland

Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types

Lists by county	Allegany Anne Arundel Baltimore County Calvert Caroline Carroll Cecil Charles Dorchester Frederick Garrett Harford Howard Kent Montgomery Prince George's Queen Anne's Somerset St. Mary's Talbot Washington Wicomico Worcester

Lists by city	Baltimore: (Central North and Northwest West and Southwest East and Northeast South and Southeast)

Other lists	Bridges National Historic Landmarks

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Portal:National Register of Historic Places

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