LIGHTHOUSE PHOTOS
Click photo to enlarge
Fort Carroll Light dated 15 August 1960
Fort Carroll Light taken from inside Fort Carroll
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Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Designated Waterway: Chesapeake Bay
The Fort Carroll Light in it's original location. In 1900 the light tower was moved again to a more central location on the western wall. This tower, a short square wooden structure with a fog bell, survives to this day.
Fort Carroll Light was originally built on a parapet of Fort Carroll in 1854 with a sixth order Fresnel lens. The lighthouse and fog bell were removed in 1898 to make room for the fort’s expansion. A new light was constructed in December of the same year; a square wooden tower with black cast iron lantern with a fifth order Fresnel lens. What remains is the ruined square cylindrical frame tower from 1898. The fifth order Fresnel lens was removed.
Fort Carroll is a man-made island in the middle of the Patapsco River built to protect the approach to Baltimore. Construction on the fort began in 1847 and Robert E. Lee oversaw a phase before becoming superintendent of West Point. Fortifications of this type rapidly became obsolete and the fort was not completed to plans. It was minimally gunned during the Civil War, abandoned after World War I, and used again briefly during World War II by the Coast Guard.
The construction of Fort Carroll beginning in 1847 set a large new hazard to navigation immediately adjacent to the ship channel, and a keeper's house with a light tower on it was constructed in 1854. At the time, the light keeper was the only resident of the artificial island.
The small wooden lighthouse was was moved several times during the Fort’s construction. It marked the turn from the Brewerton Channel to the Fort McHenry Channel going into and out of Baltimore Harbor. The keeper lived in a separate dwelling on the Fort’s grounds.
The fort was never completed as envisioned, but nonetheless changes to the fortifications brought about a number of changes to the light. The tower was moved to the southwest corner of the fort in 1875, and a new keeper's house was built in 1888. The Spanish American War prompted a project to upgrade the fort's guns to (then) modern naval weapons, and this displaced the light to a new location on the northwest corner. In 1900 the tower was moved again to a more central location on the western wall. This tower, a short square wooden structure with a fog bell, survives to this day.
The fort was strategically obsolete almost before construction began, and the army finally abandoned the fort in 1921, one year after the light was automated. The federal government retained to property, however, and the Coast Guard used it for a pistol range and for temporary quarters for seamen whose ships were being fumigated. By this time the light had been discontinued. Various schemes for reuse ensued, and eventually in 1958 the property was sold to Benjamin Eisenberg, a Baltimore lawyer who intended to build a casino there. Jurisdictional issues nixed this, and the property has never been put to commercial use, though at one point a large number of peach trees were planted. In its neglect the fort has become a seabird refuge, by default. The light remains perched on the fortress walls, but in extreme disrepair.
| Location Type |
Onshore |
|
Construction Type |
Wood |
| Original Optics |
Fifth order Fresnel lens |
| Current Optics |
|
| Year Built |
1898 |
| Builder: |
|
| Operational: |
No |
| Date Deactivited: |
1945 |
| Automated: |
Yes |
|
Markings: |
|
| Shape: |
Square wooden tower |
| Height: |
45 feet |
| Focal
Plane Height: |
|
| Range: |
7 miles |
| Sound
Signal Building: |
|
| Sound
Device: |
Fog Bell |
| Existing
Keepers Quarters: |
Not Present |
| Current
Use: |
Innactive Private |
| Current
Owner/Manager: |
Private Developer |
| Open to
the Public: |
No |
| Web
Site: |
Fort Carroll Light |
National Register Status:
Miscellaneous
The fort was sold into private ownership in 1958. In 2000 a local developer signed a lease on the property; no purpose has been announced. Obviously endangered and in a state of decay, the light is on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List.
Best seen by boat, Fort Carroll lighthouse can also be seen while driving eastbound on the Francis Scott Key Bridge on the southern side of the Baltimore Beltway (I-695). It can also be seen from Fort Armistead Park. To reach Fort Armistead Park, take Exit 1 from I-695 and follow Quarantine Road south to Hawkins Point Road. Follow Hawkins Point east to Fort Armistead Road, and follow Fort Armistead Road to the park.
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