Janes Island Light

Infobox Lighthouse


caption =
location = Tangier Sound southwest of Janes Island (near Crisfield, Maryland)
coordinates = coord|37.9633|N|75.9185|W|type:landmark
yearlit = 1867 (second light in 1879)
automated =
yeardeactivated = 1935
foundation = screw-pile
construction = cast-iron/wood
shape = hexagonal house
height = 38 ft
lens = fourth-order Fresnel lens
currentlens =
range =
status = destroyed by iceThe Janes Island Light was a screw-pile lighthouse located near Crisfield, Maryland. Twice destroyed by ice, it was replaced in 1935 with an automated beacon.

History

Janes Island (also sometimes called James Island) has a shoal jutting out into Tangier Sound from its southwest point. The shoal was marked with lightships beginning in 1853, and in 1866 a screw-pile light was erected on the spot. It was destroyed by ice in 1879, and a new light was constructed to replaced it, identical to the second Hooper Strait Light. The new light was damaged by ice in 1893, and in 1935 the house was torn from the foundation and floated in the sound for three days before sinking. A new beacon was constructed, a short tower on a caisson foundation, and it has remained in service since.

References

* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMD.asp Maryland Light Stations] , from the United States Coast Guard website
* [http://www.cheslights.org/heritage/janesisland.htm Janes Island 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. 167