Concord Point Light is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

in Havre de Grace,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. It overlooks the point where

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

flows into the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

, an area of increasing navigational traffic when it was constructed in 1827. It is the northernmost lighthouse and the second-oldest tower lighthouse still standing on the bay. Concord Point Light is currently listed as a private aid to navigation.

Description

Concord Point Light is among the many Maryland lighthouses built by John Donahoo, who also built its keeper's house across the street. The tower is constructed of Port Deposit

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. The walls are thick at the base and narrow to at the parapet. The lantern was originally lit with nine

whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tear drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities of sperm whales, ...

lamps with

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

reflectors. In 1854, a sixth-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

was installed. This was later upgraded to a fifth-order Fresnel lens. The lighthouse was automated in 1920.

History

Among the lighthouse's keepers from 1827 to the mid-1900s were several members of the O'Neill family. The first O'Neill, John O'Neill had defended the town of Havre de Grace by manning a cannon battery on Concord Point during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. By 1924, local documents describe the lighthouse area as being "seriously blighted"; it apparently remained that way for many years. The lighthouse was decommissioned by the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

in 1975; soon after that, the lens was stolen. The structure was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976. Extensive restoration work began in 1979. The keeper's house has since been restored and is open to the public as a museum. In 1983, a fifth-order Fresnel lens borrowed from the Coast Guard was installed in the lantern room.

References

External links

Concord Point Lighthouse
- official site
Lighthouse Friends: Concord Point Light
- photos and description

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080704052208/http://perlman.net/lighthouse_trips/Concordpoint.htm Trip report to Concord Point Lightbr>Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Concord Point Light
*, including photo dated 1990, at Maryland Historical Trust {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1827 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Museums in Harford County, Maryland Lighthouse museums in Maryland Transportation buildings and structures in Harford County, Maryland Buildings and structures in Havre de Grace, Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Harford County, Maryland 1827 establishments in Maryland

Description

History

See also

References

External links