Sep 8, 2017

Photos and text by Algerina Perna

: Merrilyn Pope, 73, from San Diego, CA is pictured through the lantern room of the fresnel lens which crowns the lighthouse. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: A visitor peeks out one of the windows of the lighthouse. Next to him is the machine that rang the fog bell. When the lighthouse was operational in the bay, the keeper would wind this machine which in turn rang the bell when visibility fell below five miles. The machine worked for two hours and then would need to be rewound. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: This fog bell worked by a hand-operated machine inside the lighthouse and warned nearby ships in the fog. Every two hours, the machine would need to be rewound manually. In 1934, the air whistle replace the fog bell which served as a backup. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: A potbelly stove was used to keep the lighthouse warm. This too, required manual labor of stoking the fire. In the background on the desk is the Keeper’s daily logbook. Peter Lesher, chief curator for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, reports, “Wood and coal was the fuel supply for the cooking and heating stoves on the main floor of the lighthouse. Typically, you would kindle a fire with wood, and when it got hot enough, you could add coal, which burns much hotter but is harder to ignite.” Now a museum, the lighthouse is set up with furniture typical of the 1920’s time period which the keepers would have used. The automation of the lighthouse light in 1954 eliminated the need for keepers. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: In the workroom of the lighthouse, silhouettes and photographs of former lighthouse keepers decorate two walls. In the center is a photograph of John S. Cornwell, the keeper from 1879 to 1885. Living a keeper’s life could be very dangerous. The original Hooper Strait Lighthouse (18671877) was destroyed by moving ice floes on January 8, 1877. Fortunately, both John S. Cornwell, the keeper, and Alexander S. Conway, assistant keeper, survived. Cornwell became the first keeper of the new (and current) lighthouse in 1879. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Pictured is the living and office space in the lighthouse. Clothes on the stand and in the trunk are those which would have been worn by the keeper. The medicine in the wall cabinet served the keeper’s medical needs while they were on duty for 25 days straight. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Lighthouse keepers kept a supply of medicine on hand for emergencies since they were at sea for 25 days straight before having 5 days off. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: At left is the outhouse for the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse. At right is one of 5 wooden tanks holding 200 gallons each of stored rain water for the keepers collected from the roof gutters. Peter Lesher, chief curator for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum says lime was added to treat the drinking water. He adds, “Since the lighthouse was located near the channel, in brackish water, it was not possible to drill a well. Fresh water was collected from rainwater off the roof. The tin roof was soldered with lead, which could contaminate the water. The lime would precipitate the lead out of the water to the bottom of the tank, making the water safe to drink.” (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: An office, kitchen and two bedrooms were on the first floor of the lighthouse, now furnished in the 1925 time period. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The fresnel lens in the Lantern Room shines on the Miles River at Navy Point. The lens’ multifaceted glass prisms focus the rays of light into a single beam making it more effective compared to other lights. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Earlier in the year, third graders from Fruitland Intermediate School (Wicomico County) visited 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse. This is a view from the lighthouse. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: School children visit the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse. Its original location was forty miles south in Hooper Strait and marked a hidden sand bar. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Plastic replicas of the typical cuisine of the keepers sits on a stove on the first floor which has four rooms: an office, kitchen and two bedrooms. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Now a museum, the Hooper Strait lighthouse is decorated in the time period circa 1925. The lighthouse became automated in 1954 when the light and the fog bell was automated to an air whistle, canceling the need for keepers. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Peter Lesher, chief curator for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, says that the US Lighthouse Service provided a “traveling library… delivered by a government owned lighthouse tender, which also delivered foodstuffs, coal, lamp oil, etc.” to the keepers. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum campus faces the Miles River at Navy Point. Its original location was forty miles south in Hooper Strait where it marked a hidden sand bar. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The keepers kept a daily log of weather and conditions on the Bay. The lighthouse became automated in 1954 when the light was automated, canceling the need for keepers. An entry from 1912 says, ” Very heavy ice running. House shaking very bad. Can’t stand on your feet.” (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Now a museum, plastic food replicas illustrate the typical cuisine of the keepers circa1925. The first floor includes the kitchen, office and two bedrooms. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Pictured is the storage area on the first floor off the kitchen with supplies typically needed for the lighthouse operation. The automation of the lighthouse light in 1954 eliminated the need for keepers. Peter Lesher, chief curator for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, reports, “Wood and coal was the fuel supply for the cooking and heating stoves on the main floor of the lighthouse. Typically, you would kindle a fire with wood, and when it got hot enough, you could add coal, which burns much hotter but is harder to ignite.” (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: On the wall at left is a list of the 71 lighthouses which once lighted the Bay. Several lighthouses are still operational. At right are typical tools the keepers would have used for their routine chores. Also pictured is a bag of lime. Peter Lesher, chief curator for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum says lime was added to treat the drinking water. He describes, “Since the lighthouse was located near the channel, in brackish water, it was not possible to drill a well. Fresh water was collected from rainwater off the roof, which was channeled into 5 200gallon cisterns or tanks. The tin roof was soldered with lead, which could contaminate the water. The lime would precipitate the lead out of the water to the bottom of the tank, making the water safe to drink.” (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Pictured is the kitchen. Peter Lesher, chief curator for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, says, “Wood and coal was the fuel supply for the cooking and heating stoves on the main floor of the lighthouse. Typically, you would kindle a fire with wood, and when it got hot enough, you could add coal, which burns much hotter but is harder to ignite. Now a museum, the lighthouse is set up with furniture typical of the 1920’s time period which the keepers would have used. The automation of the lighthouse light in 1954 eliminated the need for keepers. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Pictured is a screw pile used at the base of the lighthouse pilings to secure lighthouses into the bay floor at an angle. This method helped prevent ice in the bay from lifting the lighthouses from their pilings which was the fate of the first Hooper Strait Lighthouse in 1877 when it was destroyed by moving ice floes. The first Hooper Strait lighthouse lasted only 10 years from 18671877. The first lighthouse had “sleevepole” method. According to www.lighthousedigest.com, “Wooden pilings were driven into the mud and covered with cast iron sleeves to protect them.” (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum campus faces the Miles River at Navy Point. Its original location was forty miles south in Hooper Strait where it marked a hidden sand bar. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

Hooper Strait Lighthouse protected sailors from crashing into sand bars on their travels between the northern Chesapeake Bay and Tangier Sound for 87 years. In 1966, this treasured piece of Chesapeake Bay history was saved from demolition by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The lighthouse was cut in half width-wise and moved on two barges to its current location and reassembled on the museum’s campus in St. Michaels.

Surrounded by the beauty of open sky and vast waters, a keeper’s life was very labor intensive. In the first 75 years of its history, the keeper and his assistant worked 25 days on and 5 days off. The lantern burned from sunset to sunrise, and was cleaned and refilled with oil daily. On foggy days when visibility was 5 miles, they operated a fog bell by manually cranking a machine every two hours. With constant exposure to the elements, the wooden house required continual maintenance. Fueled by both wood and coal, the cooking and heating stoves on the first floor also depended upon physical labor. Foodstuffs and other supplies were delivered by a lighthouse tender. Keepers kept a daily log of weather conditions, shipping traffic and notable occurrences. Other duties included machinery repair and assisting boats which might be stranded. Pete Lesher, chief curator for the museum says they also kept the surrounding buoys lit with acetylene gas.

In 1934, the lighthouse was modernized with an electric light and an air whistle instead of a fog bell. Lesher says some of the old duties were supplanted with maintaining the generator for the lighthouse batteries, and radio monitoring and checks.

Living a keeper’s life could be very dangerous. The original Hooper Strait Lighthouse (1867-1877) was destroyed by moving ice floes on January 8, 1877. Fortunately, both the keeper and his assistant survived. Although the new lighthouse used a screw pile design where each of the wrought iron pilings were screwed into the bay floor 10-feet deep, keepers still recorded dangerous conditions. An entry from 1912 says, “ Very heavy ice running. House shaking very bad. Can’t stand on your feet.”

Visitors can experience the life of a lighthouse keeper at the Hooper Strait Lighthouse, now a living museum furnished in the 1925 period complete with authentic keepers’ uniforms and a daily log book written in the keeper’s own words.

Hooper Strait Lighthouse, a treasured piece of Chesapeake Bay history

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