Baker Shoal Range Lights

Nov. 1, 2019
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Baker Shoal Range Lights, near Port Penn, Delaware.

Built in 1904.

BAKER SHOAL RANGE LIGHTS

Location: Delaware River south of the C&D Canal, Port Penn, Delaware
Station Established: 1910
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1904
Operational: No
Automated: No
Deactivated: 1924
Foundation Materials: Unknown
Construction Materials: Front-wood; Rear-iron
Tower Shape: Front--square two-story frame dwelling; Rear--skeletal iron tower on wooden pilings
Markings/Pattern: Front-white; Rear-brown
Characteristic: Front--occulting white; Rear--flashing white
Relationship to Other Structure:
Original Lens:

Historical Information:

  • A temporary light was lit in 1902.  In 1904 a two-story keeper’s dwelling was built with the light in a second story window.
  • The Baker Range Front Light was discontinued in 1924. A new steel tower was built in that year.
  • The original lighthouse was removed or destroyed.
  • The new tower is an active aid to navigation.
  • There was a Baker Shoal Range Rear light that originally served as the Port Penn-Reedy Island Range. Light. It became the Baker Shoal Rear Range Light in 1904 when the old range was discontinued due to the channel moving.  It remains an active aid to navigation.

Researched and written by Melissa Buckler, a member of the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.