Unfortunately, another American lighthouse has lost its Fresnel lens with the removal of the 5th order lens from the 1827 Concord Point Lighthouse in Concord Point Park in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
Reportedly, a recent assessment of the lens revealed significant damage over the years from the harsh impact of ultraviolet rays and drastic changes in temperature and humidity. However, this lens is not original to the lighthouse. Apparently, the original 1891 Fresnel lens disappeared after the lighthouse was deactivated in 1975.
In 1979, when the Friends of Concord Point Light was formed, a lens on loan from the Coast Guard to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum was secured for display in the lantern of the Concord Point Lighthouse. The Fresnel lens is now going on display in the former Concord Point keeper’s house which is currently a museum.
Concord Point’s Fresnel lens is being replaced in the lantern by a 300mm optic that is also on loan to the lighthouse from the Coast Guard.
This story appeared in the
Sep/Oct 2023 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
|