Page 76 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

HISTORY OF LAZARETTO POINT AND LIGHTHOUSE
LOCATED DIRECTLY ACROSS THE WATER FROM THE FORT MCHENRY NATIONAL MONUMENT AND HISTORIC SHRINE, LAZARETTO POINT HAS A RICH HISTORY OF ITS OWN. The area, originally named Gorsuch Point, once marked Baltimore’s eastern boundary. In 1801, the city of Baltimore built a hospital and quarantine station at the site to prevent passengers and crew carrying contagious diseases, especially smallpox, from entering the city by water. The word “lazaretto” derives from Italian and means “fever hospital” or “pest house.” After being destroyed by fire in 1836, the hospital and quarantine station were relocated.
kept up constant fire until the British retreated.
The Lazaretto Lighthouse
was commissioned in 1831,
as maritime traffic in and out
of the harbor was increasing. The 34-foot-high whitewashed cylindrical brick tower with a detached keeper’s house was built by John Donahoo at a
cost of $2,100. Donahoo built
12 of the first 17 lighthouses in Maryland. Originally, 11 oil lamps with reflectors that used 450 gallons of oil a year fueled a
red light that guided Baltimore Clipper ships and other vessels sailing into the Baltimore harbor.
In 1852, the oil lamps were replaced with a much brighter and more efficient Fresnel lens (named after French inventor Augustin Fresnel). By 1870, the glare from surrounding iron furnaces had turned the sky red, so the beacon’s light was changed from red to white.
In 1916, the Lazaretto Lighthouse became the first in Maryland
or Virginia to be electrified,
but encroaching factories and warehouses gradually limited the light’s usefulness. The Lazaretto Lighthouse was razed in 1926 and replaced with a 41- foot steel skeleton tower located
the replica’s light is not a navigational beacon. Nonetheless, the iconic white silo evokes the original’s glory days, when it welcomed Baltimore’s merchant sailing vessels home from foreign seas. The catwalk that encircles the top of the lighthouse offers a panoramic view of Fort McHenry and the Baltimore skyline.
The replica Lazaretto Lighthouse was finished in time for Defender’s Day on September 8, 1985. This Maryland state holiday commemorates the Battle of Baltimore and the writing of “The Star Spangled Banner,” which took place on the Patapsco River just downriver from Lazaretto Point and
Fort McHenry in 1814. In conjunction with the holiday, Rukert Terminals hosted a celebration to
During the two-day battle at Fort McHenry in September of 1814, Lazaretto Point was used as a command post for 12 one- gun boats and 360 men. Sailors and marines from the
gunboats manned a three- gun battery on the point and used signals to communicate with the fort to keep them informed of the position of the British fleet. The cannons
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