Cove Point Light Station in 1928
Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard
This light was built in 1828 by John Donahoo, who erected a 36 foot brick conical tower along the plan that he has used at several other sites in the Bay. In 1825 Congress had allocated funds to build a light at Cedar Point, four miles south at the mouth of the Patuxent River, but further consideration led to a decision to mark Cove Point and the shoal which jutted into the bay. A new appropriation in 1828 allowed construction of the light and the keepers house in the same year. James Somerville was the first keeper of the light, which first shown in December 1828. The original Argand lamps were replaced in 1855 with a fifth-order Fresnel lens; this in turn was upgraded to a fourth-order lens in 1857. A fog bell added in 1837 was moved several times and was mounted on both wood and iron frames before ending up on the roof of a wooden shed built in 1902 to house a fog horn.The foghorn equipment was moved in 1950 to a separate brick building, but the fog bell remains on the shed. Erosion was a significant problem, but was eventually brought under control through a seawall initially constructed in 1892 and upgraded in 1913 and 1993. The keeper's house was enlarged in 1881 when it was converted to a duplex with housing for two keepers and their families, and again in 1925 when inside kitchens were installed. In 1950 a separate small house was built as a home to a third keeper and his family. The lighthouse was completely automated in 1986. Cove Point remains an active aid to navigation and is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay.
Focal Height: 45' (14 m), Range: 12 nautical miles (22 km), Characteristic: flashing white-10sec
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