From April through October, a handful of parking permits decides who gets into Thomas Point Park, the closest public spot on the Annapolis Neck for seeing the lighthouse at the mouth of the South River. On November 1, all of those limits come off. Through the end of March the park is open to anyone. This year, the screw-pile cottage a little over a mile offshore is also the most changed it has been in a long time. It has a new beacon, a restored lens in the lantern room, a national preservation award, and engineers working out how to lift the whole structure above water the Bay hasn't reached yet.
Five Morning Passes, Then None
Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks describes Thomas Point Park as a small park on the Chesapeake near the mouth of the South River and Fishing Creek. It's known for fishing, short walks and a distant view of the historic light. Because parking is so limited, the county requires a pass to enter from April 1 through October 31. The supply in season is small.
| April 1 to October 31 | November through March | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily pass | $8, with 5 sold for the morning slot and 5 for the afternoon | Not required |
| Monthly pass | $30, with 75 sold per month | Not required |
| Where to buy | Online only, through the county's Your Pass Now portal | No purchase needed |
In season the two pass types also lead to different places. An $8 daily pass covers the cabin parking lot only. It doesn't let a vehicle go past the second gate. A $30 monthly pass comes with the gate code and parking at the point itself, and holders have to pick up a physical permit at Quiet Waters Park and display it in the registered car. Daily passes go on sale Thursdays at 6 a.m. for the week ahead. Monthly passes go on sale at 9 a.m. on the last Thursday of the month before. With ten daily permits a day, a summer visit takes planning.
The county stopped selling passes at the Quiet Waters visitor center and gatehouse, so they are sold online only. Right now none of that applies. On the county's park page, hours run from 8 a.m. until half an hour before dusk, and the posted rules ask that dogs stay leashed and that cars not stay overnight.
What Sits About 1.25 Miles Offshore
From the park, the lighthouse is about 1.25 miles to the east, according to the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society. Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse is a National Historic Landmark and the last screw-pile lighthouse on the Chesapeake still standing where it was built. Eye on Annapolis reported this in August, when the project received the 2026 Cullen Chambers Preservation and Stewardship Award from the U.S. Lighthouse Society and the Lighthouse Managers Advisory Group.
It was also the last manned lighthouse on the Bay. It was automated on September 5, 1986. Since 2004 it has been owned by the City of Annapolis and leased to the U.S. Lighthouse Society. It's cared for by a partnership that includes the city, the Society and its Chesapeake Chapter, the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park, and Anne Arundel County. The Coast Guard still maintains the working navigation light.
The structure was built in 1875, and its two metals have aged very differently. In an October profile in What's Up? Media, lighthouse manager John Potvin explained why:
"Steel is highly susceptible to damage from saltwater, while cast iron is resilient. The original cast iron is as good today as it was in 1875. The steel, however, has to be replaced periodically."
A contractor replaced the steel and tie rods in 2020. That made room for the slower work that followed, including replacing rotted wood, painting, refinishing floors and coating the roof. Potvin got involved in 2015 after retiring, starting as a painter, and told What's Up that he lives on Thomas Point and can see the lighthouse from his house.
A New Light in the Lantern Room
According to Eye on Annapolis, the lighthouse now has a new "pancake" LED beacon, the first of its kind installed in a U.S. lighthouse, with a range of about 10 to 12 nautical miles.
The lantern room also has a piece of history again. A fifth-order Fresnel lens had been in storage for more than 20 years. A certified lampist restored it, and it's now inside the lighthouse in a custom case built by the Annapolis Woodworkers Guild.
The original lens has a longer history. The lighthouse's first lens was damaged when ice hit the foundation in January 1877. A fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in 1899 and stayed in use for generations. From 1986 on, it sat in an administration building at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore. It came back to Annapolis in spring 2026, and according to What's Up it's expected to go on display at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in late 2026 or early 2027. Potvin told the magazine that a conversation with Coast Guard members during the lighthouse's 150th anniversary led to a phone call the next day saying the lens was coming home.
There's a lot of public interest in the light. Eye on Annapolis reported that the entire 2026 tour season sold out. Each tour lasts two hours, including a 30-minute boat ride each way and a docent-led walk through the interior. Tours leave from the dock behind the museum at 723 Second Street in Eastport. In winter, the inside of the light is out of reach, and the closest land view is free.
Six Feet, and the Water Behind the Number
The restoration work also explains why the view may change. The Bay has risen around the lighthouse since it was built. What's Up cited the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse Climate Resiliency Assessment, prepared by EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC in October 2024. It found that Bay waters have risen 20 inches over the past 150 years and are projected to rise another 20 inches within the next 25 years, possibly reaching 60 inches by 2100.
In other words, the assessment projects about as much rise in the next quarter century as the lighthouse has seen in its whole life. The preservation team's answer is to lift the cottage at least six feet. According to What's Up, donations and initial funds have been raised to hire engineers to design the elevation, and a grant from the National Park Service's Saving America's Treasures program, along with matching grant money, will help pay for the work. Eye on Annapolis reported that money from Saving America's Treasures, the Gosnell Foundation and the Maryland Historical Trust has paid for maintenance and an engineering study of a roughly six-foot lift, with the project estimated at $3.5 million to $5.2 million.
To put that cost in perspective, the lighthouse's endowment has grown to more than $150,000. Because the light is a National Historic Landmark, any restoration has to comply with the Maryland Historical Trust's requirements so the structure stays true to its history. The structure being raised is the 1.5-story hexagonal cottage you see from the point, with its white siding, six green-shuttered dormers, red roof and black lantern room.
A Winter Loop From the Point to Second Street
From November through March, you can follow the lighthouse's story across four stops, starting on the Neck.
- Thomas Point Park. No pass is needed through March. Go between 8 a.m. and a half hour before dusk, and look east toward the light at the mouth of the South River.
- Annapolis Maritime Museum, Museum Campus. The museum is in the historic McNasby Oyster Company building at 723 Second Street. Posted hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, students and children 3 to 12. It's free for children under 3, members and qualifying Museums for All visitors. This is where the original fourth-order lens is expected to go on display.
- The museum's Park Campus. The 12-acre waterfront site at 7300 Edgewood Road is open daily from dawn to dusk.
- On the calendar. The museum's events page lists a holiday party on December 4. The 2027 Winter Lecture Series runs on Thursdays from January 7 through February 25.
Liz Dooner works on the Annapolis Neck and around the waterfront, where a view like Thomas Point's is part of daily life. If you'd like to know how the water, the light and the rest of what surrounds your home shape what it's worth, Liz Dooner would be glad to walk you through it. Request a complimentary home valuation.
