POOLES ISLAND

Year Established:
1825
Existing:
Yes
Source:
LL-1879
Download:
File Type:
jpg (image/jpeg)
Photo Date:
1996
Photo Credit:
Ralph Eshelman
Photo Courtesy of:
U.S. Lighthouse Society
Collection / Donor:

LOCATION

Location:
CHESAPEAKE BAY
Latitude:
39° 17.23'
Longitude:
76° 16.02'
City / Town:
ABERDEEN
U.S. State:
Maryland
Location County:
HARFORD
Country:
United States

OWNER & ACCESS

Open to Public:
No
Light List Data:
  1. POOLES ISLAND
Light list data courtesy Gary Riemenschneider

STRUCTURE

Year Discontinued:
1939
Year Tower Established:
1825
Tower Construction Material:
RUBBLESTONE
Tower Foundation:
SURFACE ROCK
Height of light above mean high water, in feet:
35 feet above water
Height, in feet, from base of structure to center of lantern:
30 feet
Tower Shape:
CONICAL
Fog Signal Building?:
No
Keeper's Quarters?:
No

OPTICS

Active Aid to Navigation?:
No
Current Optic:
FOURTH ORDER, ACETYLENE
Original Optic Type:
reflectors - later 4th order Fresnel
Year Original Lens Installed:
1855
Private Aid:
No
USCG Access to Optics:
No

Comments:

Pooles Island Light Station

Historic Significance: High. Earliest extant lighthouse tower in Maryland.  The Bodkin Island Light Station constructed in 1821 and the first Thomas Point Shoals Light Station, also built in 1825, have since been demolished.  Pooles Island Light Station is the site of the first fog-signal in the Chesapeake Bay and one of the earliest in the United States.

Historic Integrity - Low.  All the outbuildings have been demolished, the lantern removed, and the tower open to the elements.


Entered by:
t.wheeler
Entered Date:
Jul 20, 2017