Sharps Island Light
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Short descriptionScript error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "lighthouse tracking".Expression error: Unexpected < operator.
The Sharps Island Light is the third lighthouse to stand nearly 3 miles (5 km) south-southwest from the southern end of Tilghman Island in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay.[1] The structure is best known today for evoking the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a condition caused by an ice floe in 1977.
The first lighthouse was built on Sharps Island in 1838, but due to the island's erosion it was moved in 1848. This was replaced with a screwpile lighthouse in 1866 near the original location of the first structure.[2][3]
The second lighthouse lasted until 1881 when it was forced off its foundations by an ice floe. It floated nearly five miles down the Chesapeake—with its keepers still inside—until it ran aground, allowing the men to escape unharmed.[4]
The third light was manufactured by the Builder's Iron Company of Providence, Rhode Island. It consisted of a cylindrical caisson Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter and Script error: No such module "convert". tall. It was constructed of cast iron plates which were Script error: No such module "convert". thick. These were bolted together on site. The caisson was sunk approximately Script error: No such module "convert". into the bottom and then filled with concrete to resist the force of waves and ice. On top of the caisson was a cylindrical tower Script error: No such module "convert". tall, which tapered from Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter at its base to Script error: No such module "convert". at the top. The iron plates forming the tower were Script error: No such module "convert". thick.[5]
The new light was built by the 5th Lighthouse District Engineer, O. E. Babcock, his staff, and a temporary force of laborers recruited for the project. Laborers were paid $2.40 a day plus board, and proved difficult to recruit in sufficient numbers.[6] USLHT Tulip carried men and materials to the site.[7] Tulip's replacement, the newly-launched USLHT Jessamine, with Babcock aboard, sailed for Sharp's Island on 27 September 1881, even before she was officially commissioned.[8] She took a load of iron plates from Baltimore on 22 November 1881.[9] On 15 December 1881 Jessamine left Baltimore with the last iron plates for the new lighthouse.[10]
The current light, a sparkplug lighthouse, was completed in 1882. Its fourth-order Fresnel lens was replaced with a Script error: No such module "convert". lens in 1977; the focal plane is Script error: No such module "convert". above sea level. The tower includes an integral dwelling and was staffed until 1938 when the United States Coast Guard automated the light.[2] Leaning by about 15° since it was ice-damaged in 1977, the structure is picturesque, but in poor condition.
The Sharps Island Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (reference # 82002821) on July 22, 1982.[11] It is one of the many historic features along Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
It is also on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of endangered lighthouses.[12]
As of 2006, the lighthouse was a candidate for sale under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.[12][13] It was deactivated in January 2010.[14]
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
- ↑ a b Template:Cite rowlett
- ↑ National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Further reading
- Hanks, Douglas, Coast Guard Eyes Lighthouse for Demolition Officials say, Sharp's Island beacon may cost more than it's worth Template:Webarchive (March, 1996) Lighthouse Digest.
External links
- Aerial photographs at Marinas.com.
- Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, Sharps Island Light. Template:Webarchive
- Chesapeake Lights, U.S. Lighthouse Society, Sharps Island Light including timeline.
- Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Sharps Island Light
Template:Portal bar Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with reference errors
- Pages using infobox lighthouse with deprecated parameters
- All articles using infobox lighthouse
- Pages with broken file links
- Lighthouses completed in 1838
- Lighthouses completed in 1882
- Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay
- Inclined towers
- Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
- Transportation buildings and structures in Talbot County, Maryland
- National Register of Historic Places in Talbot County, Maryland