Posted By: grandmaR
Demolished Screwpile Lighthouses in the Chesapeake - 09/15/07 08:28 PM
Not sure where to put this as I don't have any pictures, and it's not exactly travel. So if you want to move the topic to somewhere else, feel free.
In two places recently, I found reference to screwpile lighthouses that had been demolished. One was the Great Wicomico light which was in the Labor Day boat trip thread , and one was Mathias Point.
And the question was asked
I was told that it was because the screwpile lighthouses were too hard to maintain. Apparently the winds, ice and tides of the Chesapeake are too much for them. In so many cases, the current ATON is on the old foundations of the original lighthouse that I don't think it can be opening up any bigger shipping lanes.
I found a reference to there having been at one time 42 screwpile lighthouses in the Chesapeake watershed. Screwpile lighthouses were relatively inexpensive, easy to construct, and comparatively quick to build. They became especially popular after the Civil War when the Lighthouse Board adopted a policy to replace inside (bays, sounds, and rivers) light vessels with screwpile lighthouses.
I started looking to see where they had been.
Because only Thomas Point is left at the original location AFAIK. Drum Point, Hooper Strait and Seven Foot Knoll are all in museums.
I was doing research on this and suddenly when I clicked on a link my browser said it had to close and I lost all of what I had written. So I'm going to start a new thread on this, save it, and then add the defunct lighthouses as I find them.
In two places recently, I found reference to screwpile lighthouses that had been demolished. One was the Great Wicomico light which was in the Labor Day boat trip thread , and one was Mathias Point.
And the question was asked
Quote:
Lighthouse Loon
Sad that Mathias Point was dismantled. Anyone know why many of these screwpiles were removed? My guess is to open bigger shipping lanes.
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Stan the Lighthouse Loon
Sad that Mathias Point was dismantled. Anyone know why many of these screwpiles were removed? My guess is to open bigger shipping lanes.
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Stan the Lighthouse Loon
I found a reference to there having been at one time 42 screwpile lighthouses in the Chesapeake watershed. Screwpile lighthouses were relatively inexpensive, easy to construct, and comparatively quick to build. They became especially popular after the Civil War when the Lighthouse Board adopted a policy to replace inside (bays, sounds, and rivers) light vessels with screwpile lighthouses.
I started looking to see where they had been.
Because only Thomas Point is left at the original location AFAIK. Drum Point, Hooper Strait and Seven Foot Knoll are all in museums.
I was doing research on this and suddenly when I clicked on a link my browser said it had to close and I lost all of what I had written. So I'm going to start a new thread on this, save it, and then add the defunct lighthouses as I find them.