Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse

Year Built

1883

Cost

$25,000

Type

Octagonal mansard roof house

Height

36 feet

Location

Off Sandy Point near the west end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Automated Year

1963

First Lit

1883

Lens Type

Fourth-order Fresnel lens (original), solar-powered (current)

Fog Signal

None

Year Deactivated

Active

Color

Red brick with white roof and brown foundation

Last Keeper - Date

Tom Medlin (at least 1959 – at least 1962)

Description

The lighthouse is privately owned and is not open to the public.

Brief History

•  In 1863, a fog bell rung by machinery was added to the station to work in concert with the lighthouse’s fifth-order Fresnel lens.
•  A red sector was inserted into the light on April 15, 1888 to cover an arc of about 159° that ran from shoals off Thomas Point to the entrance to Craighill Channel.
•  A bit of an emergency occurred in 1901, when a routine inspection discovered a dangerous scour beneath the foot of the caisson.
•  In 1979 the Coast Guard found that the light had been badly vandalized and someone had smashed the almost 100 year old, hand-made, crystal Fresnel lens.
•  In 2006, the work of maintaining the lighthouse was placed into the hands of private ownership via an auction held by the government’s Real Property Disposal Division.