Seven Foot Knoll Light

Seven Foot Knoll Light
Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse at its present location
Location	originally at the mouth of the Patapsco River in the Chesapeake Bay; relocated to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates	39°09′18″N 76°24′33″W / 39.1551°N 76.4091°W / 39.1551; -76.4091 (original); 39°17′01″N 76°36′19″W / 39.2836°N 76.6054°W / 39.2836; -76.6054 (current)
Year first lit	1855
Automated	1949
Deactivated	1988
Foundation	screw-pile
Construction	wrought-iron (originally cast-iron)
Tower shape	cylindrical house
Height	40 ft (12 m)
Original lens	fourth-order Fresnel lens
Range	12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi)

Seven-Foot Knoll Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Pier 5, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland
Area	less than one acre
Built	1875 (1875)
NRHP Reference #	89001096^[1]
Added to NRHP	August 22, 1989

The Seven Foot Knoll Light was built in 1855 and is the oldest screw-pile lighthouse in Maryland.

Location

It was initially installed on a shallow shoal, Seven Foot Knoll, at the mouth of the Patapsco River. The northern reach of this river is the Baltimore Harbor, where the now-decommissioned lighthouse has been placed as a museum. In 1997 the lighthouse was transferred to the Baltimore Maritime Museum where it is located today.

Construction

Constructed of 1-inch (25 mm) rolled iron, the lighthouse consists of three main sections. The gallery deck was located 9 feet (2.7 m) above the average high tide waters. The house was the second section, sitting directly atop the gallery deck. This is where the keeper and his family would live. Atop the housing area was the third section of the lighthouse, the light beacon. A 4th order Fresnel lens was housed in the small light compartment. It was visible for 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi).

History

The first requests for a light came in 1848, with initial appropriations in 1851. Delays in planning and bidding pushed the start of construction to 1854. Total construction costs came to $43,000 by its completion the following year. Most parts were fabricated in Baltimore at the Murray and Hazelhurst iron foundry. The parts were then shipped to Seven Foot Knoll by boat where they were assembled atop of the screw piles. In 1875 the original house was replaced with the current cylindrical structure made of wrought iron plates. Ice, the perennial threat to screw-pile structures, caused damage in 1884 and 1894, leading to the piling of 790 cubic yards (600 m³) of riprap around the piles.^[2]

The light was automated in 1949, and fell into disrepair, eventually being supplanted by the usual skeleton tower. In 1988, the lighthouse was removed from Seven Foot Knoll, carried by a 1000 Ton Capacity Shearleg derrick, and placed ashore in Baltimore's Inner Harbor where it was donated to the city. On August 22, 1989 the lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[1] Aided by the Lady Maryland Foundation, many members of the Steinhice family descendants worked to restore the structure prior to its re-opening.

The lighthouse is a contributing element in the Baltimore National Heritage Area.^[3]

Keepers

A light-keeper and his family would have stayed on the lighthouse year-round with 8 days off per month. Probably the most famous of the lighthouse keepers was also the last one, Thomas Jefferson Steinhice (also spelled Steinhise and Steinheiss on various family documents). Steinhice, who was tending the lighthouse with his son Earl, rescued five men from their tugboat which had broken down on August 21, 1933. The 90 mph (145 km/h) winds and 15-foot (4.6 m)) seas had rendered the tug inoperable. Steinhice took the lighthouse's small motorboat and made his way out in the direction of the tug's distress whistle. He was awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal for his actions in saving the lives of the stranded crew.

Notes

1 2 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
↑ Dennis Zembala (June 1989). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Seven Foot Knoll Light" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
↑ "Baltimore National Heritage Area Map" (PDF). City of Baltimore. Retrieved March 11, 2012.

References

Official webpage at Baltimore Maritime Museum
"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse at lighthousefriends.com

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seven Foot Knoll Light.

Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Seven Foot Knoll Light
Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse 3D Model
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. survey-MD-54, "Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, Mouth of Patapsco River, Riviera Beach vicinity, Anne Arundel County, MD", 37 photos, 9 data pages, 1 photo caption page
Seven Foot Knoll Light, Baltimore City, including photo dated 1993, 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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