To visit the Hooper Strait Lighthouse, take US Route 50 to Easton. Then take US Route 322 and go approximately 2 miles. Make a right onto State Road 33 and travel approximately 10 miles, then make a right onto Mill Street. The museum is located at the end of Mill Street.
As shipping became more frequent through the Hooper Strait, a lightship was commissioned to aid navigation along the channel. This occurred in 1827. This lightship was active for forty years until the Lighthouse Board decided to build a humble screw-pile lighthouse to replace the lightship in 1867. This lighthouse conducted its duty for ten years when it was swept away by an ice flow that ripped the structure from its pilings. The wreckage was found five miles down the bay and the lens and some equipment were recovered.
In 1879, the Hooper Strait Lighthouse was rebuilt and remained in service until it was deactivated in 1954. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum acquired the lighthouse and moved it to St. Michaels, MD in 1966. Museum officials had the lighthouse split in two and carried on a barge to its current location, where it was completely restored to a like-new condition.
The lighthouse is open to the public and is one
Hooper Strait Lighthouse
Photo taken April 21, 2003
of the major attractions of the museum. The museum also offers visitors a unique look at the life and culture of the watermen of the bay area. Admission to the museum is $9 (April 2003). For more information on the lighthouse or the museum, please click the link above.
Photo taken April 21, 2003
Photo taken April 21, 2003
The lighthouse was anchored into the muddy bottom of the bay by screwpiles like this one.
At many off shore light stations, a fog bell would be installed on the structure, and the bell would be operated by a weight driven device (similar to that of a clock) to alert ships during times of low visibility.
A number of Fresnel lenses are on display at this lighthouse.
Photo taken April 21, 2003
Photo taken April 21, 2003
Photo taken April 21, 2003
Photo taken April 21, 2003
Photo taken April 21, 2003
Different colored panels or "sectors" would be used to inform mariners as to their relative position to the lighthouse or guide them into a channel where they could safely navigate past the hazards.
