Cobb Point Bar Light
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| Cobb Point Bar Light | |
|---|---|
 1912 photograph of Cobb Point Bar Light (USCG) |
|
| Location: | off Cobb Island in the Potomac River at the mouth of the Wicomico River |
| Coordinates WGS-84 (GPS) |
|
| Year first lit: | 1889 |
| Deactivated: | 1940 |
| Foundation: | screw-pile |
| Construction: | cast-iron/wood |
| Tower shape: | hexagonal house |
| Original lens: | fourth-order Fresnel lens |
The Cobb Point Bar Light (also called Cobb Island Bar Light) was a screw-pile lighthouse located in the Potomac River.
[edit] History
A light at Cobb Point was first requested in 1875 to mark the entrance to the tricky channel leading into the Wicomico River (not to be confused with the river of the same name on the Eastern Shore). After two additional requests, funds were finally appropriated in 1887. Construction was delayed, however, and the light was not commissioned until Christmas 1889.
A fire in 1939 caused heavy damage, and in the following year the house was torn down, replaced by a beacon set on the same foundation.
[edit] References
- Maryland Light Stations, from the United States Coast Guard website
- Cobb Point Bar Light, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
- de Gast, Robert (1973). The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 158
