We spent a lot of time behind the wheel the day we visited the Drum Point Lighthouse.   We set out from Baltimore and with only one day left before we were scheduled to be in Washington DC, we wanted to get in as many other lighthouses as we could in this one day.  Drum Point was our third lighthouse of the day, and one we would spend as much time at as possible.

The Drum Point Lighthouse is located at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomon's, Maryland.  There is an admission charge of $5 per person.  It was well worth the price paid for the experience.

The Drum Point Lighthouse was constructed in 1883 to mark the entrance of the Patuxent River.  It's light was 43 feet above the water.  The prefabricated screw-pile lighthouse took 33 days to assemble and cost $5000 to build.  The light was lit for the first time on the night of August 20th, 1883 and every night for the next 79 years.   The original forth order Fresnel lens is on display, but is no the lens currently in use in the lighthouse.

Close up of the original 4th order Fresnel Lens that is on display	Sleeping quarters on the second floor.

The station was automated in 1960 and then decommissioned by the US Coast Guard in 1962.  It was replaced by an automated beacon.  It was moved in one piece to the Calvert Marine Museum in 1975.  It now appears as it did in 1900, furnished with period antiques.  Spearheading much of the restoration effort was the daughter of the last keeper.

The Calvert Marine Museum looked really nice and had extensively detailed displays on the history of the area.  They even had two river otters in a very large glass tank.   But we didn't spend much time there besides exploring the lighthouse.

A very nice job has been done restoring the lighthouse, the furnishings are authentic, and the experience was great.  It was well worth the drive and price of admission.   Don't miss this great piece of the past.

There is a Comfort Inn with a marina that you can dock your boat at located right next door to the museum grounds.  If we had known that, we may have headed there instead of staying in the Baltimore area. 

It's a tight squeeze getting into the lighthouse.  This entrance hatch was the only way in from a boat letting off passengers.

     12/13/04 11:08:49 PM