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I
N S I D E:
 Pasek's
Puzzlers 
Glimmerings
To
Preserve
Member
to Member
Thomas
Point Shoal moves closer to
 National
Historic Landmark Status
Winter
Lights at
Calvert
Maritime Museum
Dwight's
Desk
Collector's
Corner
= Printed Version Only - Click Here
I N S E R T S: The Channel Marker The
Keeper's Loft Our
Merchandise
Trips
and Cruises
Trip
Report
Viewing
the South Carolina Lights:
Windmill
Point Bell Discovered
F o r m e r I s s u e s:  Summer
1998
Spring
1998
Winter
1998
Fall
1997 |
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Cover Story | ||
| A Night In A Light
by Donna Ward Smith |
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| "A
night in a light?" I ventured, seeking reassurance.
"Go for it! You’re not getting any younger!" Given that benediction by my little brother, did I hesitate? Only long enough to ask if I also could borrow his daughter’s sleeping bag for the adventure! And that is how I came to
find myself on a warm, late April night contemplating the belly of the
beauty: The Drum Point Lighthouse. Not a foreboding light, not one of those
remote, windswept and wild places on a treacherous shoal. This beautiful,
two-story hexagonal cottage nestled in a cat’s cradle of red girders resembles
many of the modest clapboard homes that dot southern Maryland’s shores
and farms.
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| Winter
Lights at Calvert Marine Museum
Calvert Marine Museum will hold its second "Winter Lights" event, celebrating Chesapeake Bay lighthouses, on January 16th from 10 AM to 5 PM. The Chesapeake Chapter and several other lighthouse organizations will have information tables and exhibits to inform the public about our activities. There will also be special tours of Cove Point lighthouse, living history in the Drum Point lighthouse, book signings, a gingerbread lighthouse contest, and raffles. Come join us for some lighthouse fun in January to get away from those winter "blues"! For more information, contact the Museum’s Education Department at 410-326-2042. |
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| Windmill
Point Bell Discovered
I was reading a 1969 children’s book about Virginia’s Northern Neck lighthouses. It mentioned that a bell and cupola from the Windmill Point screwpile lighthouse had been saved and could be found at a marina in the northern neck area. You will remember that the Windmill Point lighthouse marked the north entrance to Virginia’s Rappahannock River in the Chesapeake Bay. With this information my husband and I went in search of these relics. We found the bell, but no cupola. Pat Vojtech’s book Lighting the Bay revealed the fate of the cupola. It seems that in the summer of 1967, the Coast Guard contracted with a company from Maryland to demolish the lighthouse. Dr. Wallace Atwood, was in the process of building a marina to be called Windmill Point Resort near White Stone, VA. Dr. Atwood offered the contractor $2,000 for the lighthouse with the hope of reconstructing it near his marina. His plan was to turn the lighthouse into a rental cottage. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was dismantled in such a fashion that it was impossible to reconstruct it. Plans to display the cupola were also abandoned after it was vandalized. The bell from the lighthouse was salvaged however, and is on display at the Windmill Point Resort. It is inscribed "Baltimore - 1875" and the bell holder has a small tarnished brass plaque identifying the bell as having come from the Windmill Point lighthouse (see picture). If you go to the resort to visit the last remains of this important lighthouse, be sure to visit the restaurant nearby. It has a delightful replica of Windmill Point lighthouse on display. Editors note: Betty Collins is a chapter member in Hampton VA. She frequently sends us copies of her award winning photographs to share with the chapter. Thanks, Betty!
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2001(c)
Chesapeake Chapter, USLHS. All rights reserved.
