Bodkin Island Light

Bodkin Island Light

File:BodkinIslandLight.jpg Bodkin Island Light after abandonment
Location	Off Bodkin Point at the mouth of the Patapsco River
Coordinates	(estimated)
Year first lit	1822
Deactivated	1855
Construction	masonry
Tower shape	conical tower
Height	35 feet (11 m)

The Bodkin Island Light was a small lighthouse on Chesapeake Bay, USA, the first erected in Maryland.

History

The lighthouse was constructed as an aid to shipping entering Baltimore; it was built on Bodkin Island, and was the first lighthouse in Maryland. The station was built by Thomas Evans and William Coppeck, who completed the 35-foot (11 m) stone tower and attached one-story keeper's dwelling in October 1821. Thirteen lamps were purchased from Winslow Lewis, and the station was formally inaugurated in January 1822.

The lighthouse was plagued by problems stemming from its poor construction during much of its brief existence, and it was replaced in 1856 by the Seven Foot Knoll Light in the Patapsco River. A fisherman is said to have lived in the dwelling for a time, but eventually the island was completely abandoned; the old tower collapsed in 1914. Today, Bodkin Island has disappeared, eaten away by erosion. What remains of the site is marked as a "navigational hazard" on sea charts.

See also

• Chesapeake Chapter, USLHS page
• Series of photographs detailing loss of the tower