Where's Marty? Taking a tour of the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse at the Inner Harbor
Hi Everyone!
In weather as we had yesterday, there are still people working on the Bay - ships, barges, commerce in general.
And that is where the lighthouse comes into play.
Lighthouses may look quaint and romantic, but lighthouses, worldwide, save mariners' lives.
Yesterday was National Lighthouse Day, so today, and after those storms, we paid a visit to the original legendary "Seven Foot Knoll" Lighthouse.
The original was replaced by an automated beacon, and the grand old structure was saved and transported to its current resting place at the Inner Harbor's Pier 5.
Inside is a museum about the lighthouses of the Bay.
At one point there were almost 50 of them. Now, 11 remain and are a key to safe navigation.
Many folks do not realize how shallow the Bay is.
Once you get outside of the main man-made shipping lanes, "the Channel," the average depth of the Chesapeake is only 21 feet.
Sand bars form, or piles of rock, remnants of the Ice Age, dot the seascape.
Also where a point of land, like Fort Howard in Eastern Baltimore County, for example, meets the water, the land mass usually extends out into the water just under the surface.
All those obstructions need to be noted on charts, and in some cases, marked by a light.
The Seven Foot Knoll is on the AA Countryside of the Patapsco near Bodkin Creek, near Ft. Smallwood.
The wake from passing ships, rising over the rocks, can cause 5 to 7 foot waves which can be very damaging to small craft.
It was a hard life for the light keeper, and sometimes his family.
Drinking water was collecting rain water and livestock, for diinner, was housed below the house. Yep, for real. And inside of the SFK you can learn all about it.
For more info surf to the Living Classrooms website, https://livingclassrooms.org/ , or the Historical Ships in Baltimore website, https://historicships.org/
Both groups help to oversee and preserve this classic structure.
Marty B!
