Point Lookout Lighthouse
Timeline
1820 |
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May28, 1828: Congress appropriated $4500 for lighthouse building on Pt. Lookout | --- | |||
1830 |
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July 22, 1830: John Donohoo given contract to build the lighthouse at Point Lookout for $3,050. | --- |
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--- | September 20, 1830: Pt. Lookout lighthouse is activated, Mr. James Davis named as keeper | |||
December 1830: First Keeper James Davis Dies after a few months of service; Ann Davis takes over responsibilities | --- | |||
1860 | ||||
April 12, 1861: Civil War begins | --- | |||
--- | August 17, 1862
Hammond Hospital receives its first patients
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-July, 1863: Prisoner of War Camp begins operation just outside the lighthouse |
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--- | June, 1865: Prisoner of War Camp ceases operation at the end of the Civil War | |||
1870 | ||||
William Yeatman appointed keeper in 1871, after William Moody resigns. |
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1872: Original fog bell-tower was installed at Point Lookout | --- | |||
--- | October 22, 1878: the steamer Express sinks off Pt. Lookout in a gale | |||
. | 1880 | |||
1883: Point Lookout becomes a buoy depot to shorten the trip from Lazaretto and Portsmouth | --- | |||
--- | 1883 - Lighthouse is expanded and modernized. House is raised to two full stories, has a new tin roof installed and has porches built on the front and back of the house. | |||
1889 - New fog
bell-tower was installed after the old one could no longer be heard after the buoy depot buildings were erected. |
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Keeper William Moody returns to serve 4 additional years as keeper; he served before and after William Yeatman. | --- | 1908 | --- | Keeper William Yeatman dies after serving for 37 years. He would be the longest serving lighthouse keeper at Point Lookout. |
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1912 | --- | William Moody returns to Baltimore after the death of his wife, Mary Ann Brown Moody in February 1912. | ||
1920 | ||||
--- | 1927 Windmill installed to generate electricity; second remodel occurred to convert the structure to a duplex to allow 2 keepers and their families to live in the lighthouse. The south side renovations were completed in 1928 due to lack of funding in 1927. | |||
1950 | ||||
March 10, 1951 -
US Navy purchased land between lighthouse lot and garden plot for $500. |
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1960 | ||||
--- | 1964: State of Maryland purchased Point Lookout | |||
October, 1965 - automated light built on sandbar off Point Lookout |
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--- | January 11, 1966 : US Coast
Guard turned over the Point Lookout Lighthouse to the US Navy and extinquished the light. |
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First civilian family moves into the lighthouse, 1966.. | ||||
1970 | ||||
January 3, 1973 - Gerald Sword, Park Superintendent, took up residency in lighthouse, north side. | --- | |||
--- | July, 1974 Lighthouse was
painted and other repairs made by Maryland Park Service at a cost of $12,000. |
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December 6, 1979 Laura Berg moves into the lighthouse | --- | |||
1980 | ||||
January 14, 1980 Hans Holzer and a team of psychics investigate the paranormal at Pt. Lookout. | --- | |||
. | --- | February 16, 1980 The Maryland Committee for Psychical Research conducted a more detailed investigation of the lighthouse including a seance. The image of the Confederate soldier was captured at this event | ||
June 30, 1980 The State of Maryland relinquished the lease to the lighthouse and returned it to the US Navy. | --- | |||
--- | July 22, 1980 A new lease was obtained with the US Navy for Laura Berg | |||
October 1, 1981 Laura Berg moves out of the Lighthouse. | --- | --- | ||
--- | 1984 Capital Edition (WDVM TV Channel 9) filmed Laura Berg at Point Lookout Lighthouse | |||
1990 |
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April, 1996 The Christmas in April program recruited volunteers from the Navy and the community to give the lighthouse exterior much needed maintenance, including a fresh coat of paint. | --- | |||
--- | 1998 The Learning Channel
approached Laura Berg to participate in a a documentary on Haunted Lighthouses. |
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2000 | ||||
March, 2000 Laura Berg applied for grant money to "Save Maryland Treasures" and contacted the US Navy. | --- | |||
. | --- | May 8, 2000 The US Navy wrote to Laura Berg informing her that they were attempting to have the lighthouse and surrounding buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Laura has subsequently contacted the US Navy to determine specific plans but has not received a reply as of October 17, 2000 | ||
The Navy awards a contract to restore the exterior of the lighthouse to the 1927 time period. The project completes in late 2002. | --- | 2002 | ||
February 2006: the lighthouse is officially transferred from the Navy to the State of Maryland. | 2006 | |||
The Point Lookout Lighthouse Preservation Society (PLLPS) is founded in August 2006. |