Piney Point Light

Piney Point Lighthouse
Piney Point Lighthouse
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Location	Piney Point in St. Marys County, Maryland, about 13 miles from the mouth of the Potomac River
Coordinates	38°08′08″N 76°31′47″W / 38.1355°N 76.5297°W / 38.1355; -76.5297Coordinates: 38°08′08″N 76°31′47″W / 38.1355°N 76.5297°W / 38.1355; -76.5297
Year first constructed	1836
Year first lit	1836
Deactivated	1964
Construction	brick/masonry
Tower shape	conical tower
Height	34 ft (10 m)
Original lens	fifth-order Fresnel lens
ARLHS number	USA-601^[1]^[2]

Piney Point Coast Guard Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Piney Point, Maryland
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
NRHP Reference #	76002171^[3]
Added to NRHP	June 16, 1976

The Piney Point Lighthouse was built in 1836 located at Piney Point on the Potomac River in Maryland just up the river from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The Coast Guard decommissioned it in 1964 and it has since become a museum. It is known as the Lighthouse of Presidents because several early US Presidents visited or stayed on the grounds.^[4]

History

Congress appropriated $5000 to build the lighthouse in 1836. The lighthouse was built by John Donahoo and had a range of 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi). The lamp was replaced in 1855 with a Fresnel lens upgrading the range to 11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi).

A bell tower was added in 1880 and was in service until 1954 when Hurricane Hazel damaged it beyond repair.

The federal government deeded the property to St. Mary's County in 1980 and in 1990 the Museum Division of St. Mary’s County Department of Recreation and Parks began to renovate the grounds.

Exhibits at the Piney Point Lighthouse Museum focus on the lighthouse, the United States Coast Guard, the Piney Point area, and the story of the Black Panther U-1105 German submarine sunk in the Potomac that now serves as a shipwreck dive preserve.

The Potomac River Maritime Exhibit displays four historic wooden vessels in a separate building.

Visitors can climb the lighthouse tower when the museum is open for operation.

The nearby Piney Point Elementary School in Tall Timbers, Maryland is named after the lighthouse.

Notes

↑ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
↑ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
↑ W. M. Whittington (November 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Piney Point Coast Guard Light Station" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piney Point Light.

"Piney Point Lighthouses Museum". Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved October 8, 2006.
"Piney Point Lighthouse".
"Piney Point Elementary School". St. Mary's County Public Schools. Archived from the original on 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Piney Point Light

External links

Piney Point Coast Guard Light Station, St. Mary's County, including photo from 2000, at Maryland Historical Trust

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

U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Maryland

Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types

Lists by county	Allegany Anne Arundel Baltimore County Calvert Caroline Carroll Cecil Charles Dorchester Frederick Garrett Harford Howard Kent Montgomery Prince George's Queen Anne's Somerset St. Mary's Talbot Washington Wicomico Worcester

Lists by city	Baltimore: (Central North and Northwest West and Southwest East and Northeast South and Southeast)

Other lists	Bridges National Historic Landmarks

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Portal:National Register of Historic Places

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