Great Shoals Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Wicomico River.

Great Shoals Light
Map
Locationmouth of the Wicomico River in the Chesapeake Bay
Coordinates38°12′51″N 75°52′46″W / 38.2143°N 75.8794°W / 38.2143; -75.8794
Tower
Constructed1884 Edit this on Wikidata
Foundationscrew-pile
Constructioncast-iron/wood
Height37 feet (11 m)
Shapesquare house
Light
First lit1884
Deactivated1966
Focal height11 m (36 ft) Edit this on Wikidata
Lensfifth-order Fresnel lens
CharacteristicFl W 6s Edit this on Wikidata

History

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This light was constructed to mark a narrow channel at the entrance to the Wicomico River, as requested by the Maryland General Assembly in 1882. An appropriation was not made until the following year, and further delays pushed the commissioning date to August 1884.

In 1966 the light was dismantled and a modern automated light was erected on the old foundation.

References

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  • "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • Great Shoals Lighthouse, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
  • de Gast, Robert (1973). The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 165. ISBN 9780801815485.
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