From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Craighill Channel Upper Range Rear Light is one of a pair of range lights that marks the second section of the shipping channel into Baltimore harbor.

History

This light was constructed in 1885 as part of a range light pair to mark the then newly-excavated Craighill Cutoff Channel. A modest iron skeleton tower was erected, pyramidal in form with a wooden, corrugated iron-sheathed square shaft at its center to house the lamp and the access stairway. Its only architectural ornaments were a few windows to light the stairwell and a gallery to allow the outside of the light's window to be cleaned. A keeper's house was built nearby, connected to the light by a brick walk. The original light was a locomotive headlight displaying a fixed white light; this has since been replaced with a more conventional fixture displaying a red light.

The grounds were (and are) surrounded by private property, and in 1888 there was a dispute over access to the light. Other than that the light has passed a quiet life, punctuated only by automation in 1929 and the demolition of the keeper's house. It is still an active aid to navigation.

References

• Maryland Light Stations, from the United States Coast Guard website
• Craighill Range Lighthouses, from the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society
• Craighill Channel Upper Rear Lighthouse at lighthousefriends.org

External links

• http://www.craighillrange.org
• Rowlett, Russ, Lighthouse Directory, Lighthouses of Maryland, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Further reading

Lighthouses of Maryland Baltimore Harbor Light • Blakistone Island Light • Bloody Point Bar Light • Bodkin Island Light • Cedar Point Light • Choptank River Light • Clay Island Light • Cobb Point Bar Light • Concord Point Light • Cove Point Light • Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Light • Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light • Craighill Channel Upper Range Front Light • Craighill Channel Upper Range Rear Light • Drum Point Light • Fishing Battery Light • Fog Point Light • Fort Carroll Light • Fort Washington Light • Great Shoals Light • Greenbury Point Light • Hawkins Point Light • Holland Island Bar Light • Hooper Island Light • Hooper Strait Light • Janes Island Light • Lazaretto Point Light • Leading Point Light • Love Point Light • Lower Cedar Point Light • Maryland Point Light • Mathias Point Light • North Point Range Lights • Piney Point Light • Point Lookout Light • Point No Point Light • Pooles Island Light • Ragged Point Light • Sandy Point Shoal Light • Seven Foot Knoll Light • Sharkfin Shoal Light • Sharps Island Light • Solomons Lump Light • Somers Cove Light • Thomas Point Shoal Light • Triton Light • Turkey Point Light • Upper Cedar Point Light