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During exploration of the Chesapeake Bay in 1608,
Captain John Smith named an island off the Bush River
after one of his crewmen - Nathaniel Powell. The name of
the island eventually evolved into Pooles Island.
The 280-acre island was purchased by Peregrine Weathered
in 1808. Weathered, using slave labor, converted the island into
a wheat farm. Despite a British raid in 1813, the crops continued to thrive.
The island was known for its excellent soil,
and renowned for its crops to the end of the 19th century.
It was known particularly for its peaches, which grew from
7000 peach trees purchased in 1872.
In 1825, John Donahoo was commissioned to build a lighthouse
to mark the shipping channels that passed the island.
Six acres of land were purchased for $500, and $5000 was spent
to build the lighthouse. The lighthouse was a 40-foot conical granite
tower covered in stucco and whitewash. A keeper's residence was built
nearby. A fog bell tower was commissioned in 1828. A fourth-order
Fresnel lens was installed in 1857. After a severe storm damaged the station
in 1881, the keeper's dwelling was enlarged.
In 1917, the island was acquired by the US Army and became part
of the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. The light was automated, and
residence left the island. The island became a testing ground for
military ordinance. In 1939, the light was discontinued and the
residence torn down. Today, the island is off-limits to the public
due to the presence of unexploded ordnance on the island.
In 1994, the army petitioned to have the light placed on the
National Historic Register. In 1997, volunteers from the proving ground,
along with the Coast Guard and National Park Service, performed
a restoration of the tower.
Bay Beacons, Turbyville pp. 14-17
The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake, de Gast p. 111
Lighting the Bay: Tales of Chesapeake Lighthouses, Vojtech pp. 31-132, 161
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