Choptank River Lighthouse

by ELDavis Photography

Title

Choptank River Lighthouse

Artist

ELDavis Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

The Choptank River Lighthouse is an exact replica of a six-sided screwpile lighthouse that guided mariners along the Choptank River for generations. The replica was completed in fall 2012 utilizing existing plans available from the National Archives. The footprint of the structure is 42' from one hex point to the other, and sits on a 60' by 60' platform with an overall height approximately 40'. It's located on the end of Pier A at Long Wharf Park (Water and High Streets) in Cambridge, on Maryland's beautiful Eastern Shore. The lighthouse is normally open to the public for free, self-guided tours daily from 9am-6pm, from May through October.

The original Choptank River Lighthouse once stood between Castle Haven and Benoni Points on the Choptank River, near the mouth of the Tred Avon River. The lighthouse station was established in 1871 by the U.S. Lighthouse Service, a government agency that later became today's U.S. Coast Guard, the service which still manages America's navigational aids. The lighthouse was the only manned lighthouse inside the Choptank River to guide ships to Cambridge. An ice floe in 1918 demolished this first structure. Instead of building a new structure, the Lighthouse Service elected to move the spare Cherrystone lighthouse then in storage at Cape Charles, Virginia, to the Choptank River site. The Cherrystone lighthouse was put in place in 1921 at the Choptank River, making it the only lighthouse in the Chesapeake that has served two states. The structure stood at the station until 1964, when the house was removed under the Coast Guard's modernization program. Today at the site there's a small flashing light to guide boaters.

Uploaded

June 27th, 2015

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