Pasadena in Anne Arundel County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse
1851 Lighthouse Board proposes building a screwpile lighthouse at the Seven Foot Shoal on the Patapsco.
1854 Contract to build the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse is awarded to Murray & Hazelhurst of Baltimore.
1884 Major repair conducted on the failing piles.
1933 Thomas J. Steinhise, Head Keeper, performs a rescue at sea of the crew of a tugboat.
1948 Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse is automated.
1980's Coast Guard declares the lighthouse as surplus property because of its deterioration.
1987 Coast Guard transfers ownership to the City of Baltimore.
1988 Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse is moved to Pier 5 in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
1980's New steel tower erected on Seven Foot Knoll Shoal.
1997 Baltimore Maritime Museum, now HSIB, begins maintaining the lighthouse on Pier 5 for the city.
Built at the mouth of the Patapsco River to warn ships entering Baltimore Harbor of the shoal named Seven Foot Knoll.
Was the only round cottage-style screwpile lighthouse constructed in the Chesapeake Bay.
Designed for three keepers: a head keeper and two assistants, however it housed the families of several lighthouse keepers.
Keeper Steinhise earned a
this page online
Keeper Steinhise retired in 1941 after 11 years as the Head Keeper at Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse. He was the last full-time Head-Keeper. Keepers from 1941 to 1948 were temporary Coast Guard personnel.
Many of the Steinhice/Steinhise family still reside in Anne Arundel, Baltimore and other counties in Maryland.
[Captions:]
Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse in its original location. U.S. Coast Guard Photo.
Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse at its current location at Pier 5 in Baltimore Harbor. Photo by Tony Pasek.
National Archive Photo.
Silver Lifesaving Medal awarded to Thomas J. Steinhise, Lighthouse Keeper "In testimony of heroic deeds in saving life from the perils of the sea. Thomas J. Steinhise for signal exertions in rescuing several men from drowning August 21 1933" Quote from citation. Medal photos from family.
Erected 2019 by The Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society; designed by the South River High School History Club & CC USLHS Historian Jennifer C. Jones.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed
Location. 39° 9.962′ N, 76° 28.635′ W. Marker is in Pasadena, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County. It is on Bay Front Drive north of East Drive, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: Bay Front Dr, Pasadena MD 21122, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Maryland’s Baltimore Metro Region. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Fort Carroll Lighthouse (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Prime View (about 500 feet away); Fort Smallwood Park Memorial Grove (approx. 0.3 miles away); Fort Smallwood Park Flagpole (approx. 0.3 miles away); Bill Burton Fishing Pier (approx. half a mile away); Veterans of Foreign Wars (approx. 1½ miles away); Still on Patrol (approx. 1.6 miles away); Riviera Beach Veterans Memorial (approx. 2.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pasadena.
Other markers no longer nearby. The History of Ft Smallwood Park (was approx. half a mile away but has been permanently removed); a different marker also named The History of Ft Smallwood Park (was approx. half a mile away but has been permanently removed); Preservation in Progress (was approx. half a mile away but has been permanently removed).
Credits. This page was last revised on August 25, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 25, 2024, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 193 times since then and 10 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 25, 2024, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
