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After its recent transfer from the U.S. Coast Guard to the Calvert county government, Cove Point Lighthouse in Solomons, Maryland will be open to the public on a regular basis for the first time in its 170-year-old history.
Built in 1828, Cove Point Lighthouse is the oldest continuously working lighthouse in Maryland and the sixth oldest extant lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay. John Donahoo, known for his other Bay lighthouse designs at Concord Point, Pooles Island and Piney Point, built the forty-five foot tower and keepers dwelling of locally manufactured brick. Cove Point was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The light station will be maintained and cared for by the Calvert Marine Museum as an historic attraction with signage to interpret the various buildings and their uses. Visitors will be allowed into the base of the tower, but not the upper part of the tower, which remains an active aid to navigation.
Cove Point Lighthouse will be open to the public weekends and holidays, May and September from 10am to 4pm and daily in June, July and August. However, access will only be by guided tour from the Calvert Museum in Solomons, Maryland via shuttle bus.
If you’d like to help you can contact the Calvert Marine Museum Society, PO Box 97, Solomons, MD 20688. or call the museum at 410-326-2042 or visit their website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com
This story appeared in the June 2001 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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