Fog Point Lighthouse

Nov. 5, 2019
PRINT | E-MAIL

Fog Point Lighthouse, Somerset County, Maryland

Built in 1827.

FOG POINT LIGHT

Name of Lighthouse: Fog Point Light
Location: North-western tip of Smith Island (an isolated community of oystermen and fisherman in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay); it marked the narrow passage north of Smith Island through Kedges Strait.
Date Built: 1827
Type of Structure: White house with a stone tower with lantern placed on top of the roof dwelling. The land being a remote marshy island caused some concerns on the condition of the structure ten years later.
Height: focal plane 40’ above mean high water
Characteristics: Fixed white
Lens: Original 10 lamps with 16 inch reflectors were replaced with fifth order Fresnel installed in August 18, 1855.
Foghorn: None listed
Appropriation: The few acres were purchased for $200.00; the lighthouse was built for $3,500.00 by John Donohoo
Status: No longer standing

Historical Information:

  • Discontinued and abandoned in 1875 with all traces of it have disappeared.  This happened when Solomon’s Lump Lighthouse a mile-and-a-half northeast was completed in September 1875.

Researched and written  by Catherine (Kitty) Price, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Light House Society.