Cobb Point Bar Light

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 38°14′33″N 76°49′36″W / 38.2424°N 76.8266°W / 38.2424; -76.8266Coordinates: 38°14′33″N 76°49′36″W / 38.2424°N 76.8266°W / 38.2424; -76.8266
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.

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 by light keeper Matthew Wicke, resulted in heavy damage, and in the following year the house was torn down, replaced by a beacon set on the same foundation.

References

  • "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • 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.
  • Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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