Hooper Strait Lighthouse (St. Michaels, MD)

The Hooper Strait lighthouse is called a "screwpile," built on special iron pilings which were tipped with a screw that could be turned into the muddy bottom for a depth of 10 feet or more. Unfortunately, screwpile lighthouses turned out to be very vulnerable to ice floes which, when accumulated around the base, broke supporting pilings. The Museum's lighthouse is the second lighthouse constructed at Hooper Strait--the first one was destroyed by ice in 1877.