Seeking Shelter
by Skip Willits
Title
Seeking Shelter
Artist
Skip Willits
Medium
Photograph - Epson Lustre Paper
Description
It seems to me only fitting! This is the first of 225 lighthouses I photographed starting back in 1991 and now the 5,000 image I have posted on Pixels. I have done a lot of adding of sky and other things to the original image so this is a digitally enhance image.
SANDY POINT SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE
Chesapeake Bay
Offshore Sandy Point State Park, Maryland
Like the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, the Original Sandy Point Light was on shore on the western side of the bay just north of what is now the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The original light, completed in 1858, was both lighthouse and keeper’s house....with the lantern placed on the roof of the house. A fog bell was added in 1863, but in 1874 the Lighthouse Board noted that the bell and light were ineffective as the shoal extended so far out into the bay as to render them virtually useless. For approximately eight years the Board asked congress to appropriate anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 to build a new light on the edge of the shoal in the bay proper.
Finally, in 1882 congress appropriated $25,000 and construction was started on the caisson. The lighthouse is built on a Caisson, or cylinder, some 35 feet in diameter and sunk three feet into the sandy bottom of the bay. The red brick keeper’s house and lantern was built upon the caisson. The light was electrified in 1929 and automatic operation began in 1963. A one second white flash is exhibited every six seconds and the foghorn tolls every thirty seconds.
This light is located offshore just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge between Kent Island, MD and Annapolis, and can be viewed from the bridge itself or from Sandy Point State Park on the western shore of the bay. The exit from MD Rt. 50 is clearly marked. With the modest aid of binoculars, the light can be view from shore. The bright red paint really makes this landmark stand out on a clear, sunny day.
Uploaded
July 15th, 2016
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Viewed 1,115 Times - Last Visitor from Philadelphia, PA on 03/18/2024 at 5:02 PM
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Comments (19)
Mary Lynn Giacomini
Beautiful artwork Skip ......your series of lighthouses is spectacular. Amazing work! LF
Sandi OReilly
Fabulous capture framed by that sky, water and light, Skip, excellent work as always!! F/L