Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light

Craighill Channel Range Front Light
22 August 1885

Location	Entrance to the Patapsco River, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
Coordinates	39°11′19.01″N 76°23′39.84″W / 39.1886139°N 76.3944000°W / 39.1886139; -76.3944000Coordinates: 39°11′19.01″N 76°23′39.84″W / 39.1886139°N 76.3944000°W / 39.1886139; -76.3944000
Year first lit	1873 (temporary lights), completed 1875
Automated	1964
Foundation	Caisson with circular dwelling above.
Tower shape	Cylindrical
Markings / pattern	Brown with white roof
Focal height	25 feet (7.6 m)
Range	Red 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing White, 3 sec with red sector
Fog signal	none
Admiralty number	J2246
ARLHS number	USA-198
USCG number	2-8040 ^[1] ^[2]

Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Baltimore, Maryland
Area	less than one acre
Built	1873
MPS	Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP Reference #	02001420^[3]
Added to NRHP	December 2, 2002

The Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light, named for William Price Craighill, was the first caisson lighthouse built in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, USA. First lit in 1873, the range marks the first leg of the maintained Craighill Channel from the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Patapsco River into the Baltimore harbor and works in conjunction with the Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light. It has been owned by non-profit organization Historical Place Preservation, Inc. since 2005.

History

This light was constructed in 1873 and is considered a greater feat of engineering than its predecessor, the Duxbury Light (the first caisson lighthouse, built in 1872), as it was built in deeper water under more difficult conditions. The caisson type quickly became the preferred type of lighthouse to be built in climates where ice floe damage was a possibility. The front range light is unusual for having two lights and is the only surviving example in the Chesapeake Bay. A beacon light is fixed above the gallery deck which serves as the front light for the range and a light in the lantern serves as a general aid to navigation.^[4]

The station has never suffered ice damage despite it being located in a very exposed position; however the station was once abandoned and the light extinguished on February 11, 1936, because of dangerous ice conditions. It was not relit till February 24. In 1899 the station received "new model fifth-order lamps." A fog bell operated by gas was established at the station in 1923. The light was changed from oil to electric on November 26, 1929. The fog signal was changed to an air whistle on October 24, 1932. In 1938 the light was described as having a Reynolds flasher to produce the one-second flash with two-second eclipse. A spare fourth-order "wick lamp" was kept as a backup. Oil was stored in a 225-gallon tank kept in the cellar. The fog signal was a number 4 Typhone Horn with an eight-inch-diameter whistle, which gave a three-second blast every 27 seconds. A backup Gamewell weight-driven clock mechanism produced a double strike every 30 seconds. The weight had to be rewound every hour and a half. The fog bell was a standard 1000-pound bell.

Water was collected from the roof and stored in two steel 500-US-gallon (1,900 l; 420 imp gal) tanks. The station had a 18-foot (5.5 m) "motor boat" and a 16-foot (4.9 m) "skiff" hung from davits. There was a keeper and an assistant until the station was automated on May 5, 1964.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 as Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light Station, reference number 02001420.

In November 2005, ownership of the lighthouse was transferred to the nonprofit organization Historical Place Preservation, Inc. under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 (NHLPA). HPP plans to restore the lighthouse and open it to the public.

Currently, the lighthouse is in disrepair, but is a popular sailing destination for people in the Baltimore area. It is rusted and deteriorating, but still has an automated flashing beacon.

Nomenclature

The official USCG name is Craighill Channel Range Front Light.^[1]
The National Register of Historic Places name is Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light Station.^[3]

References

1 2 Light List, Volume II, Atlantic Coast, Shrewsbury River, New Jersey to Little River, South Carolina (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2010. p. 73.
↑ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
1 2 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
↑ Ralph E. Eshelman (January 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-03-01.

External links

Craighill Range Lighthouses, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society.
History of Craighill Channel Lower Front Light
Historical Place Preservation, Inc.
Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Craighill Channel Range Lights
Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light, Baltimore County, at Maryland Historical Trust

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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