Life on the Choptank River Lighthouse

In a discussion sponsored by the Cambridge Lighthouse Foundation, Jack Messick will share memories of day-to-day life during times gone by on a screwpile lighthouse standing out in the middle of the Choptank River. The talk on Nov. 2 is titled, “Life on the Choptank River Lighthouse with Jack Messick.” Messick’s father, Harold, was the last live-aboard keeper of the original Choptank River Lighthouse, which stood near the mouth of the Tred Avon River up until the 1960s. In his younger years, Jack Messick spent countless hours living out on that lighthouse, as he would live aboard for two weeks at a stretch while helping his father tackle all manner of tasks, from cleaning the Fresnel lens to testing the fog bell and shining brass door handles.
Part of the Smithsonian's Water/Ways Exhibit
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