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Baltimore Maryland

Harbour Lights Limited Edition #524
Society Exclusive Free Gift

Just south of Baltimore, near Gibson Island, at the mouth of the Magothy River, a dangerous shoal lies 24 feet below the water's surface. In 1890, recommendations were made to place a light directly over the shoal. Twelve years passed before Congress agreed to fund the project. In September, 1904, a caisson was towed to the site, lowered to the shoal, and sunk into the bay bottom. Inside the caisson, large cast iron plates were carefully joined to form the sentinel's cylinder.

On October 12, before the cylinder could be completed, a violent storm pushed it flat on it's side. The original contractor abandoned the project and it was not until 1907 that construction could begin again.

The diminutive lighthouse contained ample living quarters for two keepers, including a sitting room and bedrooms.  The fifth order Fresnel lens was finally illuminated on October 1, 1908. In 1964, Baltimore Light became the first and only lighthouse powered by nuclear energy. After a year, the atomic fuel cell was replaced by a conventional electric generator.

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Production History

* Baltimore Harbor was a gift for new and renewing members of the Harbour Lights Collectors Society until April 30, 2000. Production was limited to Society Members in 1999-2000.

Other Baltimore Harbor Releases by Harbour Lights:

LL209 Little Light

Photographs by Paul L. Brady © Harbour Lights 
December 13, 2001