Baltimore Harbor Light

Infobox Lighthouse


caption = Baltimore Light being fitted with a nuclear reactor in 1964.
location = Entrance to the Magothy River, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
coordinates = coord|39.0592|N|76.399|W|type:landmark
yearlit = 1908
automated = 1964
yeardeactivated =
foundation = Pneumatic caisson sunk into seabed
construction = Brick
shape = Octagonal
height = 52 ft
lens = Fifth order Fresnel lens
range = white 7 miles/red 5 miles
characteristic = Flashing white with one red sector
builder = William H. Flaherty/U. S. Fidelity and Guarantee Co.
status = standing/active

The Baltimore Harbor Light (historic names include Baltimore Harbor Lighthouse and Baltimore Light), 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 Coast Guard maintains rights to operate a light on the structure.

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 among the last lighthouses to be constructed on the Chesapeake.

In 1964 the Baltimore Light became the first and only American lighthouse powered by nuclear energy. Two years later the reactor was removed and a conventional electric generator was installed. Currently the lighthouse is solar-powered.

External links

* [http://www.baltimorelight.org Baltimore Harbor Light] . New owners as of 2006.

References

* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMD.asp Baltimore Light] , from the United States Coast Guard
* [http://www.cheslights.org/heritage/baltimore.htm Baltimore Harbor Lighthouse] , from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society.
* [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=423 History of Baltimore Lighthouse] , from Lighthousefriends.
* [http://propertydisposal.gsa.gov/ResourceCenter/Library/IFB/BaltimoreLighthouses.pdf Invitation to Bid on the Baltimore Lighthouse]
*cite book
last= de Gast
first= Robert
title= The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake
year= 1973
publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press pp. 86-89