Solomons Lump 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 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 ...

, 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 That structure replaced a screw-pile light built on the same spot in 1875, which in turn superseded the Fog Point Light.

History

The Fog Point Light, on the northwestern corner of Smith Island, marked the entrance to Kedges Strait from 1827. By 1872 it was held to be ineffective in protecting a shoal extending north from the island, and a new light was sought specifically to mark the shoal. In 1875 a five-legged screw-pile structure was built, which survived until 1893, when ice knocked it over. Initial plans to replace it with a new screw-pile light were changed when extra funds became available from the savings in constructing

Wolf Trap Light Wolf Trap Light is a caisson lighthouse in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay, about seven and a half miles northeast of New Point Comfort Light. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History Wolf Trap Shoal juts ...

in Virginia, so a caisson structure was erected instead in 1895, using the pneumatic process to sink it in place. The bottom being soft, the caisson sank further than expected, and an extra course of plates had to be added to the top. A brick tower and octagonal wooden house were erected on this foundation. Originally the new light was given 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 1919, however, this lens was replaced with the fourth-order lens from Cherrystone Bar Light in Virginia. Automation came in 1950, and some years later the house was removed, leaving the brick tower standing off-center on the platform.

References

External links

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Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project – Solomons Lump Light
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1895 Smith Island, Maryland Lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay Lighthouses in Somerset County, Maryland 1895 establishments in Maryland