Lazaretto Point Light

Infobox Lighthouse


caption = Undated photograph of original Lazaretto Point Light, Maryland (USCG)
location = Lazaretto Point in Baltimore harbor (present location of Rukert Terminals Corporation property)
coordinates = coord|39.2622|N|76.5715|W|type:landmark (loc. of replica)
yearlit = 1831
automated = 1916
yeardeactivated = 1926
construction = brick/masonry
shape = conical tower
height = 31 ft
lens = fourth-order Fresnel lens, upgraded to 3½ order in 1914
currentlens =
range =
characteristic = fixed white
status = demolished; replaced with replica

The Lazaretto Point Light was a historic lighthouse in Baltimore harbor. Though long demolished, a replica stands near its original site.

History

Lazaretto Point, directly opposite from Fort McHenry, acquired its name from a smallpox quarantine hospital which once occupied the point. By the time that John Donahoo began construction of a brick tower light in 1831, the hospital was gone; the name was destined to live on in local naval lore, however, as in 1863 a depot was established around the tower for the construction and resupply of lighthouses throughout the bay. Many screw-pile lighthouses were prefabricated at the depot in preparation for erection at their final sites.

Iron was for a time mined at the point, and industrial sites sprung up around it, leading to years of complaints about the visibility of the light. A fourth order Fresnel lens installed in 1852 provided some improvement, as did a change from red to white aspect in 1870. In 1914 the light was electrified, and the fourth order lens replaced with a 3½ order. In spite of this the light be came increasingly obscure, and the old tower was torn down in 1926, replaced by a taller steel skeleton tower. This tower survived until 1954. By this time the depot had diminished in importance, and it was shut down entirely in 1958, to be replaced by a Rukert shipping terminal.

A replica of the original tower was constructed in 1985 by the Rukert Terminal Corporation in honor of Norman Rukert, Sr., who had entertained the idea of constructing such a replica before his death. The new tower was constructed from blueprints of the original found in the National Archives. Though it sports a small white light, it is not an active aid to navigation.

References

* [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=421 Lazaretto Point Lighthouse] - from Lighthousefriends.com
*cite book|title=The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake
last=de Gast|first=Robert
publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press
location=Baltimore
year=1973 pp. 118-121
* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMD.asp Maryland Light Stations] from United States Coast Guard website