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Reedy Island Range Rear Light

Oct. 8, 2019
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Reedy Island Range Rear Light, near Taylor's Bridge, Townsend, Delaware

Skeletal light tower built in 1839.

REEDY ISLAND RANGE REAR LIGHT

DELAWARE RIVER MOUTH 
Station Established: 1839 
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1910 
Operational? YES 
Automated? YES – mid 1930s
Deactivated: N/A 
Foundation Materials: 9 CONCRETE PIERS 
Construction Materials: CAST IRON 
Tower Shape: SKELETAL 
Markings/Pattern: BLACK 
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE 
Original Lens: FIFTH ORDER RANGE 1910

Historical Information:

  • The original light was discontinued in 1950. A skeletal tower replaced it. 
  • Added to the National Historic Register in 1989.
  • On April 6, 2002 vandals set the keeper’s house on fire, destroying the structure and damaging the brick oil house nearby. 
  • Skeletal tower which stand nearby is still an active aid to navigation.

Researched and written by Anne Puppa, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.