Photo Caption:
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Pooles Island Lighthouse as it appeared in 1928. When the 200-acre island was discovered by Captain John Smith in 1608, he named the island Powell’s Island after Nathaniel Powell, a member of his crew. Over time the named evolved to Pooles.
Throughout the years, the island has also been referred to in documents with various other spellings such as, Poole’s, Pools, and Pool’s. The lighthouse was built in 1825 by John Donahoo as the first of many lighthouses he would build in the Chesapeake Bay area.
During the tenure of lighthouse keeper Cohee, the light station had numerous other buildings, including a brick cistern, cow stable, poultry house (chicken coop), and a coal house that had been converted to an oil house. Shortly after the light station was discontinued in 1939 the lighthouse buildings were demolished, leaving only the tower. The fate of the Fresnel lens that was once in the tower is unknown. (Lighthouse Digest archives.)
Back to the edition of: Nov/Dec 2011
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