Come Aboard!
Tours have begun!
Take a once-in-a-lifetime tour aboard this icon of the Chesapeake Bay
- Learn about how lighthouse keepers lived
- Learn about other lighthouses on the Bay and how many met their demise
- Learn how the U.S. Lighthouse Society is restoring and preserving the lighthouse
The tour includes a safety check-in and orientation at the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse Interpretive Center at the Annapolis Maritime Museum’s Barge House, a 30- minute boat ride to the lighthouse, an on-board docent-led tour, and a 30-minute return boat ride. Allow three hours for the excursion. The Barge House is at 723 Second Street in the Eastport neighborhood of Annapolis.
Tours are limited and reservations
are required.
Book your tour today!
Tours on Saturdays & Sundays only
July: 26 & 27
August: 9 & 10, 23 & 24
September: 13 & 14, 27 & 28
3 tours per day: 9 a.m., 12 p.m. & 3 p.m.
Only 18 passengers per tour
All tour participants must be at least 12 years old and at least 48” tall.
All tours are subject to cancellation due to weather and sea conditions at the captain’s discretion.
To book call toll-free 800-690-5080
$70 per person
Note – The tour of the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse is adventure travel involving some physical exertion.. The tour includes a 30-minute boat ride to the lighthouse through potentially heavy seas, transfer to the lighthouse dock, a climb up a steep ladder and through a small hatch - a trap door - on the lighthouse deck. No flip-flops, Crocs, open-back shoes or high heels. There are no toilet facilities on the boat nor on the lighthouse. If you have any concerns that you or a member of your party will have difficulty, we strongly advise against booking a tour.
Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse
The Annapolis Maritime Museum is one of four partners in a consortium that took over ownership of the beautiful Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse at a ceremony held during the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival at Annapolis City Dock on Saturday, May 1, 2004.
The Museum joined the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society, the City of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County to manage and preserve this beloved National Historic Landmark, the last screwpile lighthouse on the Bay still in its original location. In addition to conservation and restoration, a goal of the partnership is to make the lighthouse accessible to the public. Last summer we did just that. More than 600 people took the docent-led tour aboard the lighthouse. They learned about the many lighthouses that have dotted the Bay as aids to navigation, they learned about the unique screw-pile construction that makes building a structure possible on the muddy bottom of the Bay, and they experienced the unparalled peace and serenity the lighthouse Keepers of old once knew.
The lighthouse, a National Historic Landmark, is the last screwpile lighthouse left in its original location, one-and-a-half miles offshore in the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the South River. Built in 1875, Thomas Point is in surprisingly good shape. Over the past three years Lighthouse Society and Museum volunteers have been working to restore the lighthouse and to make it safe for visitors. More about the history of the lighthouse, how you can become involved in restoration, and more photos are on the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse website.
To volunteer as a docent, please call the Museum office at 410 295-0104.
Photo credits: Three photos above courtesy the US Lighthouse Society, Chesapeake Chapter; below, by Elvia Thompson.
Directions & Parking Information
for the Annapolis Maritime Museum
Free Trips to the Lighthouse
You can earn two free trips to the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse when you book a group of 18 for one of our regularly scheduled tours.
If you belong to a yacht club, book club, ski club, glee club, or any other organization, a couple of emails could earn you a coupon worth two free trips to this historic icon of the Bay.
Use the coupons to reward yourself for your organizational skills, or use it to auction off to raise money for your group's activities. It's a $140 value! We have openings as early as this Sunday. Use the printer friendly flier to create your own email campaign. Call the Museum staff at 410-295-0104 for more details.
Annapolis Maritime Museum |
PO Box 3088 |
Annapolis, MD 21403
410 295-0104
office@amaritime.org
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