Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse

Year Built

1855

Cost

$27,000

Type

Cylindrical house

Height

40 feet

Location

Relocated to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore

Automated Year

1949

First Lit

1859

Lens Type

Fourth-order Fresnel lens

Fog Signal

Foghorn

Year Deactivated

1988, moved to a museum setting

Color

Red w/black lantern

Last Keeper - Date

Thomas J. Steinhise (1930 – 1941)

Description

The access to the lighthouse is open to the public, but for safety reasons, visitors do not have access to the lantern room.

Brief History

•  On January 19, 1884, ice floes broke one of the lighthouse’s iron piles, and five days later the lighthouse tender Holly removed the keepers from the lighthouse, as it was deemed unsafe.
•  In August 1933, keeper Thomas Steinhise accomplished the rarest but most important of the keeper’s tasks, a rescue at sea.
•  The days of a keeper at Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse ended in 1948, when the light was automated.
•  By October of 1988 the light had been replaced by a steel tower and title to it was obtained by the City of Baltimore.
•  In 1997, Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse was moved became part of the Baltimore Maritime Museum.