Bodkin Island Light

Bodkin Island Light

Infobox Lighthouse


caption = Bodkin Island Light after abandonment
location = Off Bodkin Point at the mouth of the Patapsco River
coordinates =
yearlit = 1822
automated =
yeardeactivated = 1855
construction = masonry
shape = conical tower
height = 35 ft
status = destroyed by erosionThe Bodkin Island Light was a small lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay, the first erected in Maryland.

History

The lighthouse was constructed as an aid to shipping entering Baltimore; it was built on Bodkin Island, and was the first lighthouse in Maryland. The station was built by Thomas Evans and William Coppeck, who completed the 35-foot stone tower and attached one-storey keeper's dwelling in October 1821. Thirteen lamps were purchased from Winslow Lewis, and the station was formally inaugurated in January 1822.

The lighthouse was plagued by problems stemming from its poor construction during much of its brief existence, and it was replaced in 1856 by the Seven Foot Knoll Light in the Patapsco River. A fisherman is said to have lived in the dwelling for a time, but eventually the island was completely abandoned; the old tower collapsed in 1914. Today, Bodkin Island has completely disappeared, eaten away by erosion. What remains of the site is marked as a "navigational hazard" on sea charts.

ee also

* [http://www.cheslights.org/heritage/bodkin.htm Chesapeake Chapter, USLHS page]
* [http://www.aacounty.org/RecParks/Parks/downs_park/history2.cfm Series of photographs detailing loss of the tower]
* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMD.asp Maryland Light Stations] , from the United States Coast Guard website


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