Greenbury Point Light

Greenbury Point Light in 1885 (USCG)
Location	Greenbury Point at the mouth of the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland
Coordinates	38°58′30″N 76°27′18″W / 38.975°N 76.455°W / 38.975; -76.455 (approximate)
Tower
Construction	wood frame
Shape	house with tower on roof
Light
First lit	1848
Deactivated	1891
Lens	sixth order Fresnel lens
1892 light
Greenbury Point Light in 1925 (USCG). Greenbury Point lies in the upper left of the picture.
Foundation	screw-pile
Construction	wood frame
Height	39 ft (12 m)
Shape	hexagonal house
First lit	1892
Deactivated	1934
Lens	fourth order Fresnel lens
Characteristic	F W

Greenbury Point Light was the name of two lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay, both located at the mouth of the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland.

History

The first light on this site was constructed in 1848 and bears little resemblance to other lights in the area. Original equipped with Argand lamps and reflectors, it was upgraded in 1855 with a sixth order Fresnel lens, later replaced with a fourth order lens. By 1878 the Lighthouse Board was reporting that erosion at the point threatened the light, and that it was ill-located and too small to be seen against the lights of the town. An appropriation to replace the light was made in 1889, and in 1892 a new screw-pile lighthouse was activated. This sat on the shoal about half a mile south of the point, and was assigned the new station name of "Greenbury Point Shoal Light".

Like many such lights in the bay, the screwpile foundation proved vulnerable to ice, and in 1918 it was badly damaged. In 1934 the house was removed and a skeleton tower erected on the piles. This light is still in use.