Greenbury Point Light

Infobox Lighthouse


caption = Greenbury Point Light in 1885 (USCG)
location = Greenbury Point at the mouth of the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland
coordinates = coord|38.975|N|76.455|W|type:landmark (approximate)
yearlit = 1848
automated =
yeardeactivated = 1891
foundation =
construction = wood frame
shape = House with tower on roof
height =
lens = sixth-order Fresnel lens
currentlens =
range =
characteristic =
status = no longer extantInfobox Lighthouse


caption = Greenbury Point Light in 1925 (USCG). Greenbury Point lies in the upper left of the picture.
location = 1/2 mi south of Greenbury Point at the mouth of the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland
coordinates = coord|38.968|N|76.454|W|type:landmark
yearlit = 1892
automated =
yeardeactivated = 1934
foundation = screw-pile
construction = wood frame
shape = hexagonal house
height = 39 ft
lens = fourth-order Fresnel lens
currentlens =
range =
characteristic = fixed white
status = replaced by skeleton tower

Greenbury Point Light was the name of two lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay, both located at the mouth of the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland.

History

The first light on this site was constructed in 1848 and bears little resemblance to other lights in the area. Original equipped with Argand lamps and reflectors, it was upgraded in 1855 with a sixth order Fresnel lens, later replaced with a fourth order lens. By 1878 the Lighthouse Board was reporting that erosion at the point threatened the light, and that it was ill-located and too small to be seen against the lights of the town. An appropriation to replace the light was made in 1889, and in 1892 a new screw-pile lighthouse was activated. This sat on the shoal about half a mile south of the point, and was sometimes referred to as "Greenbury Point Shoal Light".

Like many such lights in the bay, the screwpile foundation proved vulnerable to ice, and in 1918 it was badly damaged. In 1934 the house was removed and a skeleton tower erected on the piles. This light is still in use.

References

* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMD.asp Maryland Light Stations] , from the United States Coast Guard website
* [http://www.cheslights.org/heritage/greenburypt.htm Greenbury Point Shoals Light] , from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
* cite book
last= de Gast
first= Robert
title= The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake
year= 1973
publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press p. 159