Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse:
A Public-Private Partnership for our Maritime Heritage
By: Henry I. Gonzalez, President, Chesapeake Chapter U. S. Lighthouse Society

Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse is a treasured symbol of the Chesapeake Bay. Built in 1875, this cottage-style screwpile lighthouse is the last of its type still operating in the United States. While over 40 cottage-style lighthouses once dotted the Bay, advances in modern navigation, changes in lens technology, and the effects of time, weather, and neglect have taken a toll on these charming structures. Today, only Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse remains in its original location as an active aid to navigation on the Chesapeake Bay.
Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1999, Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse is a two-story wooden "cottage," 35 feet in diameter. The five-room cottage is built over a steel frame deck and mounted to the spidery legs of a wrought iron screwpile foundation. The corkscrew ends of each piling are driven deep into the mud of the Bay. At 43 feet tall, the light, which flashes every 6 seconds, can be seen more than 11 miles away. Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse was the last staffed light station on the Chesapeake Bay before it was automated in 1986. Though originally outfitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, today, a modern acrylic lens shines its welcoming beacon to vessels navigating the Bay for business and pleasure.

Thanks to the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 and an innovative partnership among the U.S. Lighthouse Society and its Chesapeake Chapter, the Annapolis Maritime Museum, the City of Annapolis, and Anne Arundel County; preservation of this unique landmark will soon be a reality.

The Thomas Point Lighthouse is now owned by the City of Annapolis who has extended a long-term lease to the non-profit U.S. Lighthouse Society and its Chesapeake Chapter. In partnership with the Annapolis Maritime Museum and Anne Arundel County, this consortium will preserve and renovate the structure. The ceremony transferring the lighthouse to the consortium took place on May 1, 2004, at the Annapolis City Dock, and was attended by such dignitaries as the Honorable Gale Norton, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Plans are underway to open the Lighthouse for limited public tours, educational uses, and cultural activities. From a shore-side base at the Annapolis Maritime Museum, exhibits will tell the story of these disappearing beacons of the Bay. Visitors will depart for guided tours of the Lighthouse from the Museum's renovated dock at McNasby's Oyster Packing House in Eastport, Maryland.
While the preservation and renovation of the Lighthouse will be an ongoing activity; the consortium hopes to have the structure ready for public visits by spring of 2005. For the latest on their efforts, please visit their website at http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org.

The consortium needs your help! Your donations and volunteer labor are needed now to begin restoration work over the next year and to make this offshore lighthouse accessible to the public. All donations to the "Thomas Point Lighthouse/USLHS" are tax-deductible and will be used to further the goals of historic preservation, education, and public accessibility. The consortium has established several levels of individual donors and corporate sponsors, with corresponding benefits. Details of the donor/sponsor program can be found on their website.

The mailing address for the consortium is: Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse; P.O. Box 5940; Annapolis, MD 21408.

Note: When Legal Mutual first decided to feature the unique lighthouses of the Chesapeake Bay as part of its “Outshining the Competition!” advertising campaign, Legal Mutual choose the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse as its inaugural lighthouse in the series. Legal Mutual is proud to maintain a “Superintendent” level membership in the Chesapeake Chapter U. S. Lighthouse Society, and we sincerely appreciate the assistance provided to us by so many of its members.