LIGHTHOUSE PHOTOS
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Drum Point Lighthouse and Bugeye Wm B Tennison
Drum Point Lighthouse 1907 - Courtesy CMM
Drum Point Lighthouse keeper William Yeatman with his children, September 9,1918.
Drum Point Expanding Shoreline
Drum Point Lighthouse taken August 15, 1915
Drum Point Cupola Stairs - James Ward
Drum Point Fresnel - James Ward
Drum Point Cupola Deck - James Ward
Current Light Marker near the original Drum Point Light location
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Solomons, Maryland, USA
Designated Waterway: Chesapeake Bay at entrance to the Patuxent River
The Drum Point Lighthouse has been relocated from it's original location. The lighthouse was originally located on five acres of submerged land about one-sixteenth nautical mile due south from Drum Point, 38o 19' 03.5" north by 76o 24' 56.5" west. The lighthouse is located at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons Maryland.
This screwpile, cottage-type light is only one of three remaining from forty-five that once served the Chesapeake Bay at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Decommissioned in 1962, the lighthouse fell victim to vandals until moved to its present site in 1975.
Beautifully restored, complete with furnishings of the early twentieth century, it has become the waterfront's main attraction and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
At the time Drum Point Lighthouse was moved to the Calvert Marine Museum in 1975, volunteer researchers began gathering information on the history of the lighthouse. The National Archives in Washington provided the main source for this documentation.
The results provide the basis for what we know of its history today. Highlights from the surviving station logbooks provide some additional insight on one of Maryland's most distinctive buildings.
Drum Point Lighthouse dominates the Calvert Marine Museum's waterfront. Tours are guided, and the schedule varies seasonally.
Initially, the Drum Point light station was to be located on land. Debates between the state and federal governments over ceding state land to the federal government, fair value of the land, and size of the site went on until 1856. At that time a survey of the site was made for a ten acre plot on the south-most point of land at Drum Point. However no lighthouse was ever built because the transaction was never completed.
Official records reveal nothing further until 1874 when a petition to Congress was sent by various steamboat company captains and agents calling for a light and fog bell at Drum Point. The Maryland general Assembly on April 6, 1874 passed an act of cession allowing the U.S. government to purchase land, not exceeding five acres, from any resident in the state. It also empowered the governor to convey title to any submarine site up to five acres. this legislation led to a spat of screwpile lighthouse construction in the 1870s and 1880s, since it became easier for the federal government to gain title to submarine sites, having only to deal with state authorities.
On February 15, 1883 a deed transfer was signed by Governor William Hamilton conveying five acres of submerged land about one-sixteenth nautical mile due south from Drum Point. The five acres were encompassed in a circle whose circumference was 263.3 feet from the center; the center being a point 38o 19' 03.5" north by 76o 24' 56.5" west.
Work on the white hexagonal wooden structure and its wrought iron screwpile base was started on July 17, 1883. A Fresnel lens of the fourth order was shipped from the Office of the Light House Engineer in Staten Island, new York, and the light was first exhibited on August 20, 1883. From a height of fifteen feet the fixed red light was visible thirteen nautical miles in clear weather. In poor visibility the fog bell would ring a double blow every fifteen seconds. the first keeper was Benjamin N. Gray, who was transferred from his post as assistant keeper at Cove Point Light Station.
The museum is fortunate that the logbook for the drum Point Lighthouse have survived for the periods 1883 to 1943, and are preserved at the National Archives. Please click on the Drum Point Lighthouse link to get a more complete history.
| Location Type |
Offshore |
|
Construction Type |
Screwpile |
| Original Optics |
FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL |
| Current Optics |
FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL (nonoperational) |
| Year Built |
1883 |
| Builder: |
|
| Operational: |
No |
| Date Deactivited: |
1962 |
| Automated: |
N/A |
|
Markings: |
|
| Shape: |
Hexagonal wooden cottage structure |
| Height: |
46 feet |
| Focal
Plane Height: |
|
| Range: |
12 miles |
| Sound
Signal Building: |
No |
| Sound
Device: |
Attached Bell |
| Existing
Keepers Quarters: |
Integrated |
| Current
Use: |
Museum Location |
| Current
Owner/Manager: |
The Calvert Marine Museum |
| Open to
the Public: |
Yes |
| Web
Site: |
Drum Point Lighthouse |
National Register Status:
LISTED; Reference #73000910
Name of Listing: DRUM POINT LIGHTHOUSE
On State List/Inventory? YES
Miscellaneous
The original location of the lighthouse at Drum Point can be seen from the far end of Solomons Island and is marked with a smaller light.
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