Turkey Point Light

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Turkey Point Light

(Elk Neck, Maryland)

Turkey Point Light is located at the top of the Chesapeake Bay at the junction of North East and Elk Rivers. It is at the southern tip of Elk Neck State Park, Maryland.

In 1832 four acres of land was purchased by the U.S Government for construction of the lighthouse. The tower and keeper’s quarters were built by John Donahoo, the same person who built the Concord Point Light tower just a few years earlier in Harve de Grace. The conical tower is constructed of brick and is 35 feet tall. The lighthouse sits on top of a bluff that is approximately 100 feet tall. As a result, the light is situated 129 feet above the water making it the highest of all the Chesapeake Bay lights.

Besides the tower, a separate keeper’s quarters and oil house was built. During the 1880’s a fog bell house was added to the station. The bell was rung by a Gamewell Fire Alarm Machine. It worked like a grandfather’s clock with heavy weights that were suspended down into a 30 foot deep well. The bell rang every fifteen seconds and needed winding every two hours and forty-five minutes.

The original lamp was an Argand-style lamp and reflector that produced a fixed white light that could be seen for approximately 13 miles. A red window pane was installed to produce a red light in a narrow sector to warn ships of shallow waters. A Fresnel lens was installed in the tower in 1856. Several other lamp changes were made over the years and in 1943 the tower was electrified with a solar powered lamp. The Fresnel Lens was stolen after the light was automated. The light continued to shine up until April of 2000 when the U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned and extinguished the light.

One of the notable aspects of the Turkey Point Light were the number of woman lighthouse keepers. From 1833 till 1948 when the lighthouse was automated there were 10 keepers, four of which were woman. During 89 of the 115 manned years woman served as keepers. The most famous was Fannie May Salter who kept the light from 1925 following the death of her husband till 1948. She was the last of the woman lighthouse keepers. The Turkey Point light has been referred to as the “Ladies Lamp”.

Following automation the unmanned station was neglected and vandalized. The damage to the building became extensive and in 1971 the keeper’s quarters was torn down. All that remains today is the tower and the oil house.

In 2001 Turkey Point Light Station (TPLS), Inc., a non-profit group that is working to restore the lighthouse, was granted a ten-year lease for the lighthouse and the grounds. Many locals were saddened by the extinguishing of the light and have worked with TPLS to re-install the hardware necessary to relight the tower. On November 30, 2002 the tower was once again lit. The next project involves rebuilding the keeper’s quarters at an estimated cost of $350,000. Fund raising is currently under way.

Directions: North of Baltimore on Interstate 95 take the Route 272 exit (exit 100) south. Follow Route 272 approximately 13.5 miles to Elk Neck State Park. Follow Route 272 to the end of the road. There is a small parking lot and the beginning of a wooded trail. Follow the trail through the woods and fields until you come the lighthouse. The walk to the lighthouse is about a mile.

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