Cedar Point Light (Maryland)

For the lighthouse on Lake Erie, see Cedar Point Light (Ohio).

Cedar Point Light
Cedar Point Light before demolition in 1981
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Location	Cedar Point at the mouth of the Patuxent River
Coordinates	39°17′57.12″N 76°23′9.6″W / 39.2992000°N 76.386000°W / 39.2992000; -76.386000Coordinates: 39°17′57.12″N 76°23′9.6″W / 39.2992000°N 76.386000°W / 39.2992000; -76.386000
Year first lit	1896
Deactivated	1920
Construction	brick
Tower shape	House with tower on roof
Height	45 feet (14 m)
Original lens	fourth-order Fresnel lens
Range	7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi)
Characteristic	5 sec red flash

The Cedar Point Light was the last house-type lighthouse built in the Chesapeake Bay. An early victim of shoreline erosion, the cupola and gables are preserved at museums.

This light should not be confused with Upper Cedar Point Light or Lower Cedar Point Light, both of which stood in the Potomac River.

History

Cedar Point did not receive a light until 1896, based upon an 1888 request from the lighthouse board and an appropriation in 1894. A two story brick house was constructed with an attached tower, by far the latest example of such construction on the Chesapeake Bay. Erosion at the point was exacerbated by dredging for sand nearby, and in the 1920s the light sat on a tiny island, leading to its abandonment in 1928 in favor of a beacon. This beacon was eventually abandoned as well in the mid 1950s, leaving on a buoy in deeper water off the point. The land at the point was acquired by the United States Navy in 1958.

The lighthouse was declared eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and three years later the cupola was removed and taken to the base museum at the Patuxent Naval Air Station. Demolition was approved, and the heavily damaged remains were dismantled in 1996, with the gables and some bricks sent to the Calvert Marine Museum for the construction of a pavilion. Only some of the foundation remains at the original site.

Notes

References

"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
Cedar Point Light, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
de Gast, Robert (1973). The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 66–69.

External links

Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. MD-906, "Cedar Point Lighthouse, Cedar Point at Patuxent River & Chesapeake Bay, Lexington Park vicinity, St. Mary's County, MD", 18 photos, 8 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lighthouses of Maryland

Baltimore Harbor Light Blakistone Island Light Bloody Point Bar Light Bodkin Island Light Cedar Point Light Choptank River Light Clay Island Light Cobb Point Bar Light Concord Point Light Cove Point Light Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light Craighill Channel Upper Range Front Light Craighill Channel Upper Range Rear Light Drum Point Light Fishing Battery Light Fog Point Light Fort Carroll Light Fort Washington Light Great Shoals Light Greenbury Point Light Hawkins Point Light Holland Island Bar Light Hooper Island Light Hooper Strait Light Janes Island Light Lazaretto Point Light Leading Point Light Love Point Light Lower Cedar Point Light Maryland Point Light Mathias Point Light North Point Range Lights Piney Point Light Point Lookout Light Point No Point Light Pooles Island Light Ragged Point Light Sandy Point Shoal Light Seven Foot Knoll Light Sharkfin Shoal Light Sharps Island Light Solomons Lump Light Somers Cove Light Thomas Point Shoal Light Triton Light Turkey Point Light Upper Cedar Point Light

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