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
Tower
Foundation	Pneumatic caisson sunk into seabed
Construction	Brick
Automated	1964
Shape	Octagonal
Markings	White with brown base
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Fog signal	none
Light
First lit	1908
Focal height	52 ft (16 m)
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
	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 No.	02001417
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.^[4]

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.^[1]

Notes

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland" (PDF). 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.
^ ^a ^b Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
^ 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

Media related to Baltimore Harbor Light at Wikimedia Commons

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

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[uscghist-2] "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.

[uscgll-3] 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.

[rowlett-4] Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[mht_ihp-5] Ralph E. Eshelman (March 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Baltimore Light Station" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.

[6] ttp://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/baltimore_nrhp.asp

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v t e 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)
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