Lower Cedar Point Light

Lower Cedar Point Light

Location	in the center of the Potomac River 1.5 mi south of the Harry W. Nice (US 301) Bridge
Coordinates	38°20′24″N 76°59′35″W / 38.340°N 76.993°W / 38.340; -76.993Coordinates: 38°20′24″N 76°59′35″W / 38.340°N 76.993°W / 38.340; -76.993
Tower
Foundation	screw-pile
Construction	cast-iron/wood
Shape	square house
Light
First lit	1867
Deactivated	1951
Focal height	11.5 m (38 ft)
Lens	fourth-order Fresnel lens
Characteristic	Fl G 2.5s

The Lower Cedar Point Light was a historic lighthouse in the Potomac River near its eponymous point, south of the present U.S. Route 301 bridge. It has been replaced by a skeleton tower.

History[]

Lightships were stationed at this location beginning in 1825. In 1861, during the Civil War, the lightship at the station was burned by Confederate forces.

A screw-pile lighthouse was constructed on the spot in 1867. This light burned on Christmas Day in 1893 and was rebuilt in 1896. In 1951 the house was removed and a skeleton tower erected on the old foundation.

References[]

• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
• Lower Cedar Point 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. 156.

External links[]

• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Maryland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.