Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse


  • Vicinity: Delaware Bay, 5 mi SW of Egg Island Point
  • Travel Genus: Sight
  • Sight Category: Structure

The Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse is a well-preserved embodiment of the cast-iron and concrete caisson foundation technology which was used from 1876 to 1913 in lighthouses that occupied waterbound sites in the northeastern United States. At least 50 such lighthouses were built. Miah Maull Shoal, designed in 1907 and completed in 1913, was the last example of this type built before reinforced concrete technology was introduced; it was also one of the last major navigational aids built in the Delaware Bay. As part of a string of lighthouses in the bay and the lower Delaware River that were in place before World War One, Miah Maull Shoal helped foster the improved navigation of the Delaware that was crucial to the success of the Hog Island Shipyard (now the site of the Philadelphia International Airport), which was established in 1917. By the end of the conflict, Hog Island had become the largest shipyard in the world. - NRHP, 30 July 1990


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Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
1906/06/30 US Lighthouse Board US Agency Determined to be a major navigational aid in the Philadelphia Ship Channel, appropriations to build the Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse are approved by Congressional acts on 30 June 1906, 4 March 1907 and 4 March 1911.
1908/05/00 Lynchburg Foundry Co. Architect The contract for the Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse prefabricated shell is awarded in to the Lynchburg Foundry Company, of Lynchburg, Virginia, even before site work began.
1908/07/24 Site construction work for the Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse begins in Delaware Bay. The working platform at the shoal consist 187 14-inch white-oak piles driven into the shoal to a depth of 21 feet.
1909/06/00 Tatnall-Brown Co Architect When the general contractor is unable to continue work on the foundation, the Tatnall Brown Co of Wilmington takes over. They will fill it with concrete and set 160 feet of rip-rap around the base of the caisson.
1909/08/00 US Coast Guard Work The Coast Guard tows the cast iron shell of the Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse to the site. Sinking and filling will be completed by November.
1913/02/20 The superstructure of Miah Maull made by Richard Mfg Co of Bloomberg, PA, is completed with a lens manufactured by Barbier, Benard and Turenne of Paris (lost). Its permanent fog signal will be placed in operation on 5 December 1913. Invention of Structural Iron

Data »

Particulars for Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse:
Criteria Architecture-Engineering
Build Material Cast Iron
Area of Significance Engineering
Owner Federal
Criteria Historic Event
Structure Type Lighthouse, Light Station
Area of Significance Maritime
Area of Significance Navigation
Sight Category Structure
Area of Significance Transportation
Historic Use Water-related



US National Registry of Historic Places Data »

Accurate at time of registration: 4th February 1991

PLACE DETAILS
Registry Name: Miah Maull Shoal Lighthouse
Registry Address: In Delaware Bay 5 mi. SW of Egg Island Point
Registry Number: 90002188
Resource Type: Structure
Owner: Federal
Architect: Lynchburg Foundry Co.; Tatnall-Brown Co.
Architectural Style: Other
Attribute: Conical tower lighthouse
Contributing Structures: 1
Other Certification: Date received-pending nomination
Certification: Listed in the National Register
CULTURAL DETAILS
Level of Significance: State
Area of Significance: Transportation, Engineering, Maritime history
Applicable Criteria: Event, Architecture-Engineering
Period of Significance: 1900-1924
Significant Year: 1913
Historic Function: Transportation
Historic Sub-Function: Water-related
Current Function: Transportation
Current Sub-Function: Water-related

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