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Maryland's First Lighthouses

Bodkin Point and North Point Range Lights

**No longer in existence**

(Located in the Chesapeake Bay at the entrance to the Patapsco River, )

By the time Maryland received authorization for its first lighthouse in 1819 there were already 55 lighthouses standing along the coast from Maine to Florida.  Baltimore had become a growing port and aids to navigation were becoming increasingly important. In 1819 Congress approved Maryland’s first lighthouse project. Lighthouses were to be built at the mouth of the Patapsco River.  Ships coming up the Chesapeake Bay would enter the Patapsco River and follow it as they sailed towards Baltimore.

Lewis Brantz conducted a survey of the area to identify the best locations for the lighthouses and concluded that three lighthouses along with a few buoys were needed.  The Lighthouses were to be located on Bodkin Point (also called Bodkin Island at the time) at the southern part of the river entrance, North Point on the north side of the river entrance and Sparrows Point on the north side and to the west of North Point.  The two northern lights would act as range lights. Ship captains would use them to align their ships for entering the river channel. 

Following his survey, Brantz was given the responsibility to negotiate the purchase of the land and to develop the designs and plans for the lighthouses and out buildings.  Dr. James Stewart, the owner of Sparrows Point, was unwilling to sell to any of his land and after several attempts to change his mind it was decided to build both of the range lights on North Point.  They were to be built approximately 500 yards apart from each other with the rear light being taller than the front light so both lights could be seen when they were aligned.  Four acres of land was purchased on Bodkin Point from Richard Caton for $600.00 and six acres of land on North Point was bought from Dr. Todd for $562.00. 

William Barney, a Naval Officer, became superintendent of lighthouses in the Maryland region and was given the responsibility of selecting the builders and overseeing projects.  He put forth advertisements to solicited bids for building the lighthouse on Bodkins Point.  Having received and reviewed several bids he selected Thomas Evans and William Coppeck to build Maryland’s first lighthouse and the contract was signed April 10, 1821.  Construction on Bodkin Point began in June of 1821 and was completed and went into service in January 1822.  The light contained 13 Winslow Lewis lamps each with 16 inch reflectors.  The first keeper was Captain John Gray.

As with many of the lighthouses to come, erosion of the land near the lighthouse began to threaten the Bodkin light tower.  In August of 1823 a sea wall was built by John Donahue that kept the sea at bay and protected the lighthouse.  John Donahue, as it turned out, would later build 12 Maryland lighthouses over a period of 28 years.

The next lighthouse to be built was the eastern light at North Point.  The contract was again given to Thomas Evans and William Coppeck, the same men who were building the Bodkin Lighthouse.  During the construction delays were encountered primarily due to sickness among the workers but in August of 1822 the lighthouse was finally completed.

The western North Point Light contract was given to Simon Frieze and George Ring and was completed in January 1823.  The North Point Range lights went into service on February 1, 1823.  The first keeper at North Point was Solomon Frazier.

All three lighthouses were round towers made of stone or brick.

Bodkin Point Light served until 1856.  By then there were growing complaints that the light was ineffective and, therefore, a new screwpile lighthouse called Seven Foot Knoll was built out on the shoal to replace the light at Bodkin Point.  The Bodkin Point light, being abandoned fell into ruin and finally in 1914 the tower became so weakened that it fell over.

The North Point Range Lights continued to operate until 1873 when they were decommissioned.  The Craighill Channel had just been completed a few years earlier.  This channel lead from the lower Chesapeake Bay into the Brewerton Channel that went up the Patapsco River.  The Craighill channel intersected the Brewerton Channel about one mile northeast of the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse. The construction of this channel saved ships approximately five miles on their approach to Baltimore.    Two range lights called the Craighill Channel Lower Range Front and Rear lights were put into service in 1873.   Just prior to this, in 1868 two range lights in the Brewerton Channel were completed. These lights were known as the Hawkins Point Lighthouse and the Leading Point Lighthouse until 1915 and then they became officially called the Brewerton Channel Front and Rear Range Lights.   Ships coming from the south would follow the Craighill Channel to the Brewerton Channel up the Patapsco River and then to the Fort McHenry Channel leading to the Baltimore Harbor. The establishment of the lower Craighill Channel lights along with the Brewerton Channel Lights resulted in the North Point Lights no longer being necessary and they were decommissioned in 1873.  Later in 1885 the rear tower was demolished and upon its stone foundation was place the front lighthouse of the of the Craighill Channel Upper Range, also referred to as the Cutoff Channel.

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Copyright (c) 2000 Rick Totton.