If you want light - buy your own lighthouse!
by SV Taipan on 18 Oct 2015
The Point No Point Lighthouse - Maryland SV Taipan
The Point No Point Lighthouse - Maryland
Funds to build the light were available in 1901 and a Cassion was towed to this exposed site in 1902. The first temporary pair collapsed and the casino headed off down the bay in a storm followed by a tug which successfully retrieved it 45 miles later. It was repaired at Solomons and replaced however in 1904 it was again swept away, recovered and eventually in service in 1905. It was made available to non-profits or government agencies who would be willing to take over maintenance, and in 2007 the offer was extended to individuals. Public auction of the light was cancelled in February 2008, however, for safety reasons.
The Smiths Point Lighthouse in Virginia. And it's for sale!!
Smith Point Lighthouse has been preceded by many variations as have many Chesapeake Bay lighthouses. Several stone towers onshore were washed away and several lightships did service in the interim. A screw pile house was swept away by ice in 1895 and the keepers were fired for abandoning their post in 1893 after it was severely damaged by ice. The existing structure used the Wolf Trap plans and is essentially the same apart from paint.
Wolf Trap is red!
In 2005 the light went up for auction and was purchased for $170 by David McNally. He has a few good dinner party stories to tell about storms during his tenure but now it on the market again.
Wolf Trap Lighthouse
The Lighthouse was named for a British ship, HMS Wolf, grounded here in 1691 whilst on duty enforcing the Navigation Act and catching pirates. A succession of lightships were stationed on the shoal over the years until when in 1870 a prefabricated lighthouse was constructed on screw piles. This was swept away by ice in 1893.
The lighthouse keeper escaped and the house went miles down the bay. The lens and lantern were later recovered. A couple of different Lightships were located until the construction in 1894 of a wooden caisson topped by a cylinder of cast iron plates. The brick house was painted red in the late 1920s. It is two stories with the lantern on its flat roof. Quantities of rip-rap were dumped around the base of the light to resist pressure from the ice.
It was automated in 1971 and first offered for sale in 2004 after failing to attract any interest from Non Profit organisations. A fellow from Seattle couldn't raise the finance for a B&B and an EBay Auction failed. It was eventually bought in 2005 privately by James Southard Jr for $119k. And it's up for sale again with or without a waterfront lot near by! So many opportunities, so little time or spondoolies!
Old Point Comfort Light House VA
Old Point Comfort dates to 1775, when John Dams was paid to maintain a beacon there. Its one of the first points designated for a light by the new United States federal government. The light went into service in 1803, though a keeper's house was not built until 1823. In 1812 the light was one of several seized by British forces. The light continues in use.
This article has been provided courtesy of SV Taipan.
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