The Fog Point Light was a historic

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 ...

located at Fog Point, the northwestern tip of

Smith Island, Maryland Smith Island is a collection of three distinct island communities – Tylerton, Rhodes Point, and Ewell, Maryland – on the Chesapeake Bay, on the border of Maryland and Virginia territorial waters in the United States. The island is the last ...

in 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 ...

History

This light was constructed in 1827 by

John Donahoo John Donahoo (sometimes spelled Donahoe) (c. 1786–1858) was a lighthouse builder active in Maryland for much of the first half of the nineteenth century. Biography Little is known of Donahoo's life, but he appears to have been an active citizen ...

to mark the entrance to the Kedges Strait north of Smith Island. Originally equipped with 10

Argand lamp The Argand lamp is a type of oil lamp invented in 1780 by Aimé Argand. Its output is 6 to 10 candelas, brighter than that of earlier lamps. Its more complete combustion of the candle wick and oil than in other lamps required much less frequen ...

s and reflectors, it received a fifth-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 ...

in 1855. This light's isolated location on swampy ground was cause for concern, and in 1872 a Lighthouse Board report noted it as having little value. In 1875 it was supplanted by the

Solomons Lump Light Solomons Lump Light is a lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, the abbreviated remains of a caisson light built in 1895. That structure replaced a screw-pile light built on the same spot in 1875, which in turn superseded the Fog Point Light. Histo ...

, which stood in the strait to the northeast. The old light was abandoned, and no trace of it remains.

References

*
Fog Point Light
from the Chesapeake Chapter of the

United States Lighthouse Society The United States Lighthouse Society (USLHS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to aiding in the restoration of American lighthouses and educating the public about their history. With four chapters, and more than a dozen affiliates, it is one ...

External links

* {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1827 Smith Island, Maryland Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay 1827 establishments in Maryland Lighthouses in Somerset County, Maryland