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Thanks to the tenacity of the people of the Choptank River Lighthouse Committee, a replica of the historic lost Choptank River Lighthouse has been built on the waterfront in Cambridge, Maryland.
The idea to build a replica of the lighthouse, which had its fruits back in 2004, took time, persistence, and patience to make it become the reality that it is today. The price tag for the total project is expected to be $500,000 or more; money that has come from state funds and private donations.
The Choptank River Lighthouse was established in 1871 under the direction of the United States Light-House Board, which was the government agency in charge of our nation’s lighthouses at that time. Although the structure was heavily damaged by an ice flow in 1917, it stood until 1920.
Although there was some discussion about building a caisson-style structure to replace the Choptank River Lighthouse, the U.S. Bureau of Lighthouses, which had replaced the U.S. Light-House Board in 1910, decided instead, in 1920, to move the Cherrystone Bar Lighthouse from Virginia,, where it was no longer being used, to become the Choptank River Lighthouse, which gave it the distinction of having been the only screw pile lighthouse structure to serve in two different states. The “new” and second structure to serve as the Choptank River Lighthouse was first lighted on June 2, 1921.
Eventually the Choptank River Lighthouse outlived its usefulness, and in 1964 the 106- year old structure was demolished by the United States Coast Guard. Now, nearly 50 years after the Choptank Lighthouse was destroyed, it was been reborn as a testament to the maritime era of another time that will now be preserved for future generations.
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