Great Shoals Light

Great Shoals Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Wicomico River.

Great Shoals Light

Location	mouth of the Wicomico River in the Chesapeake Bay
Coordinates	38.2143°N 75.8794°W / 38.2143; -75.8794
Tower
Constructed	1884
Foundation	screw-pile
Construction	cast-iron/wood
Height	37 feet (11 m)
Shape	square house
Light
First lit	1884
Deactivated	1966
Focal height	11 m (36 ft)
Lens	fifth-order Fresnel lens
Characteristic	Fl W 6s

History

This light was constructed to mark a narrow channel at the entrance to the Wicomico River, as requested by the Maryland General Assembly in 1882. An appropriation was not made until the following year, and further delays pushed the commissioning date to August 1884.

In 1966 the light was dismantled and a modern automated light was erected on the old foundation.

References

• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Maryland" (PDF). United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
• Great Shoals 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. 165. ISBN 9780801815485.

External links

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