Mathias Point Light
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| Mathias Point Light | |
|---|---|
| Location: | Potomac River opposite the mouth of the Port Tobacco River |
| Coordinates WGS-84 (GPS) |
|
| Year first lit: | 1876 |
| Automated: | 1951 |
| Deactivated: | 1961 |
| Foundation: | screw-pile |
| Construction: | cast-iron/wood |
| Tower shape: | hexagonal house |
| Original lens: | fifth-order Fresnel lens |
The Mathias Point Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Potomac River in Maryland; the station was located near the Port Tobacco River. It was particularly noted for its ornate woodwork.
[edit] History
Funds for a light near Quantico, Virginia were appropriated in 1872. An engineering study recommended instead that lights be built 24 miles downstream, and an appropriation was made in 1874 to build a light on Port Tobacco Flats, with a day beacon for Matthias Point. By the time construction began the two were switched, and the light was completed in 1876. Matthias Point was like no other screw-pile structure on the bay, with much decorative woodwork and a distinctive three tiered structure that some described as resembling a wedding cake.
It was intended that this light replace that at Upper Cedar Point; in the end the number of complaints led to the latter's reactivation in 1882. Matthias Point Light itself was automated in 1951 and replaced in 1961 by a beacon mounted on the old foundation.
[edit] References
- Mathias Point Shoal Light Chesapeake Chapter, USLHS page
- Maryland Light Stations from United States Coast Guard site
- de Gast, Robert (1973). The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 157
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