Thomas Point Shoals Light Station - Highland Beach, MD - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form

The original light is intact, and the building has sustained only minor alterations. This lighthouse was the last of the manned screwpile lighthouses in Chesapeake Bay. The screwpile type lighthouse was initially designed and built in 1838 by Alexander Mitchell, an English engineer. Ten years later, this design was first built in the United States on Brandywine Shoal in the Delaware Bay. The screwpile method of anchoring a lighthouse incorporated pilings tipped with two blades arranged in a screw fashion. The method was simple, effective, inexpensive, and appropriate for the often shallow, muddy, or sandy bottom of the Chesapeake Bay. Between 1854 and 1908, 42 screwpile lighthouses were constructed on the Bay. All the structures were basically alike, tending to vary only in size, number of pilings, type of bracing, and style of superstructure. The first lighthouse at Thomas Point shoals was constructed in 1825 on land at the end of the Thomas Point peninsula which before severe erosion extended much further into the bay. Due to its faulty construction, this lighthouse was rebuilt in 1838 by Winslow Lewis. After 44 years, complaints were made that the location of the lighthouse made it of little use at night and in foggy weather. While a new caisson-type lighthouse was considered, a less expensive screwpile lighthouse was selected. The present screwpile lighthouse at Thomas Point was built on five acres of land in the Bay conveyed by the State of Maryland on October 28, 1874. It became fully automated in September of 1986.

Street address: Chesapeake Bay off of Thomas Point Park Highland Beach, MD United States 21403 County / Borough / Parish: Anne Arundel County Year listed: 1975 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1875-1899 Historic function: Transportation Current function: Transportation Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/03/2022 Don.Morfe visited it