Fog Point Light
Encyclopedia
The Fog Point Light was a historic lighthouse
located at Fog Point, the northwestern tip of Smith Island, Maryland
in the Chesapeake Bay
.
to mark the entrance to the Kedges Strait north of Smith Island. Originally equipped with 10 Argand lamp
s and reflectors, it received a fifth-order Fresnel lens
in 1855.
This light's isolated location on swampy ground was cause for concern, and in 1872 a Lighthouse Board report noted it as having little value. In 1875 it was supplanted by the Solomons Lump Light
, which stood in the strait to the northeast. The old light was abandoned, and no trace of it remains.
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
located at Fog Point, the northwestern tip of Smith Island, Maryland
Smith Island, Maryland
Smith Island is a census-designated place in Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area....
in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
.
History
This light was constructed in 1827 by John DonahooJohn Donahoo
John Donahoo was a lighthouse builder active in Maryland for much of the first half of the nineteenth century....
to mark the entrance to the Kedges Strait north of Smith Island. Originally equipped with 10 Argand lamp
Argand lamp
The Argand lamp is home lighting oil lamp producing a light output of 6 to 10 candlepower which was invented and patented in 1780 by Aimé Argand...
s and reflectors, it received a fifth-order Fresnel lens
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
in 1855.
This light's isolated location on swampy ground was cause for concern, and in 1872 a Lighthouse Board report noted it as having little value. In 1875 it was supplanted by the Solomons Lump Light
Solomons Lump Light
Solomons Lump Light is a lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay, the abbreviated remains of a caisson light built in 1895. That structure replaced a screw-pile light built on the same spot in 1875, which in turn superseded the Fog Point Light.-History:...
, which stood in the strait to the northeast. The old light was abandoned, and no trace of it remains.