View source for Thomas Point Shoal Light

{{Short description|Lighthouse in Maryland, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox lighthouse
 | image_name = Thomas Point Lighthouse Chesapeake Bay.jpg
 | location = off Thomas Point at the mouth of the [[South River (Maryland)|South River]] in the [[Chesapeake Bay]]
 | coordinates = {{coord|38.899|N|76.436|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
 | yearbuilt = 1875
 | yearlit = 1875
 | automated = 1986
 | foundation = [[Screw-pile lighthouse|screw-pile]]
 | construction = [[cast-iron]]/[[wood]]
 | shape = Square lantern on hexagonal house
 | focalheight = {{convert|43|ft}}
 | marking=White with red roof and black lantern
 | lens = fourth-order [[Fresnel lens]] (original), {{convert|250|mm|disp=flip}} solar-powered lens{{clarify|date=July 2013}} (current)
 | range = White {{convert|16|nmi}}<br />Red {{convert|11|nmi}}
 | characteristic = [[File:Thomas Point Shoal Light Signal (Fl W 5s) Red Sector 11-51.5 and 96.5-202.gif|35px]] [[Flashing Light|Flashing]] white 5 sec, with two red sectors
 | fogsignal = Horn: 1 every 15 sec
 | module = {{Infobox NRHP
  | name                 = Thomas Point Shoal Light Station
  | embed                = yes
  | nrhp_type            = nhl
  | image                = Thomaspointshoals.PNG
  | caption              =
  | location             = Kent Island, Chesapeake Bay, [[Annapolis, Maryland]]
  | area                 = {{convert|5|acre}}
  | architect            = U.S. Lighthouse Service
  | architecture         = Screwpile design
  | designated_nrhp_type = January 20, 1999<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=657238217&ResourceType=Building|title=Thomas Point Shoal Light Station|access-date=2008-06-11|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606195225/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=657238217&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=2011-06-06}}</ref>
  | added                = February 20, 1975<ref name=nris/>
  | refnum               = 75000864<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
 }}
}}
The '''Thomas Point Shoal Light''', also known as '''Thomas Point Shoal Light Station''', is a historic [[lighthouse]] in the [[Chesapeake Bay]] on the [[east coast of the United States]], and the most recognized lighthouse in [[Maryland]].<ref name=uscghist>{{cite uscghist|MD}}</ref><ref name=uscgll>{{cite uscgll|2|2012|74}}</ref><ref name=rowlett>{{cite rowlett|md}}</ref> It is the only [[screw-pile lighthouse]] in the bay which stands at its original site. The current structure is a 1½ story hexagonal wooden cottage, equipped with a [[foghorn]] as well as the light.<ref name=npsinv/>

==History==
A stone lighthouse was constructed in 1825 on shore at Thomas Point<ref name=uscghist/> by [[John Donahoo]], Thomas Point Light. It was replaced in 1838 by another stone tower. The point was subject to continuing erosion (which would eventually bring down the lighthouse on the point in 1894),<ref name=npsinv/> and in 1873 [[United States Congress|Congress]] appropriated $20,000 for the construction of a screw-pile structure out in the bay, Thomas Point Shoal Light . With an additional $15,000 appropriation in 1875, the light was built and activated in November of that year.<ref name=npsinv>{{cite web
 | title =Thomas Point Shoal Light
 | work =Inventory of Historic Light Stations
 | publisher =[[National Park Service]]
 | date =December 27, 2005 
 | url =https://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/light/thomaspt.htm
 | access-date = 2007-11-21 }}</ref> It took 30&nbsp;workers to set each cast iron beam {{nowrap|{{cvt|12|ft|m}}}} into the Chesapeake Bay's bottom.<ref name=Sun0819 />

Ice was a perpetual threat to screw-pile lights on the Chesapeake, and in 1877 the original lens was destroyed when it toppled by shaking from ice floes. This lens was replaced, and the additional piles and [[riprap]] were placed around the foundation in order to protect it. By 1964 it was the last manned light in the Chesapeake Bay, and it was not automated until 1986. It is currently the last unaltered screwpile cottage-type lighthouse on its original foundation in the Chesapeake Bay.

==Preservation==
Concerns for its preservation brought it a [[National Register of Historic Places]] listing in 1975<ref name="nris"/> and [[National Historic Landmark]] status in 1999.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Citation|title=National Historic Landmark Nomination: Thomas Point Shoal Light Station|url={{NHLS url|id=75000864}} |format=pdf|date=January 1998 |first1=Ralph |last1=Eshelman |first2 = Candace |last2 = Clifford |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=75000864|title=''Accompanying two photos, exterior, from 1885 and 1990''|photos=y}}&nbsp;{{small|(139&nbsp;KB)}}</ref>

In 2004, ownership of the lighthouse passed to the city of [[Annapolis, Maryland]], which now maintains the structure in conjunction with [[Anne Arundel County, Maryland]], the [[Annapolis Maritime Museum]], and the [https://cheslights.org/ Chesapeake Chapter] of the [[United States Lighthouse Society|U.S. Lighthouse Society]]. In 2019, a Lighthouse Society spokesman said that the steel substructure, last replaced in the 1980s, is severely rusted and requires $300,000 in repairs. Fortunately, the cast iron screw pilings remain in sound condition,  "as good today as they were 144&nbsp;years ago", said the ''[[Baltimore Sun]]'' in reporting on the needed funding in August 2019.<ref name=Sun0819>{{cite news|author=Pacella, Rachael|title=Thomas Point Lighthouse in need of repairs|work=[[Baltimore Sun]]|date=August 19, 2019|page=2}}</ref>

The [[United States Coast Guard]] continues to maintain the navigational aids at the Lighthouse. The lighthouse keeper's former living quarters are open to the public three months out of the year, through boat tours departing from Annapolis, organized by the U.S. Lighthouse Society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/tours.asp |title=Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse |access-date=2007-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022024914/http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/tours.asp |archive-date=2007-10-22 |url-status=dead | website = thomaspointlighthouse.org }}</ref>  Tickets are purchased on their [https://uslhs.org/about/thomas-point-shoal-lighthouse/tours web site].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite web|url=http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/history.asp |title=Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse: History |access-date=2007-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628220411/http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/history.asp |archive-date=2007-06-28 |url-status=dead | website = thomaspointlighthouse.org }}
*[http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=425 Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse] - from Lighthousefriends.com
*{{cite book|title=The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake |last=de Gast|first=Robert |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |year=1973 |page = 79}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Thomas Point Shoal Light}}
{{Stack|
}}
* [https://amaritime.org/museum/thomas-point-lighthouse/ Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse]
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/070607/GAL-07Jun07-76818/index.html The Light in the Bay]
* [http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/ U.S. Lighthouse Society]
* [http://cblights.com/lights/thomaspointshoal.html Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Thomas Point Shoal Light]
* {{MHT url|id=272|title=Thomas Point Shoal Light, Anne Arundel County}}, including photo from 1993, at Maryland Historical Trust

{{Portal bar| Maryland|National Register of Historic Places|Engineering}}
{{Lighthouses of Maryland}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lighthouses completed in 1875]]
[[Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Maryland]]
[[Category:Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmark lighthouses]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Annapolis, Maryland]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Annapolis, Maryland]]
[[Category:Lighthouses in Anne Arundel County, Maryland]]
[[Category:1875 establishments in Maryland]]