Leonardtown, MD – There isn’t anybody who doesn’t like lighthouses, said a member of the St. Clement’s Hundred, a local organization taking charge of preserving the island and the replica Blackistone Lighthouse. The group hosted a volunteer appreciation and recruitment event in Leonardtown April 21.
The goal of the event was to bring interested community members together to learn more about the local history and to encourage them to support the group’s preservation endeavors, said outgoing board president Beverly Wood.
“If they have any questions, cares or concerns, the event is the time that we go over policies and procedures, so it’s just a good information night, plus its a good night to just come together and share common goals,” said Wood.
St. Clement’s Island was originally 400 acres when the first colonists came over, and it has eroded down to 40 acres presently. The group has raised over one million dollars to preserve the island and lighthouse, said incoming board president Carol Davis.
“It’s important for us to do our best to preserve this for future generations and help them understand how important the lighthouse is,” said Davis. “We think it’s amazing that we have gotten as much community support. Rebuilding wasn’t easy, with supplies having to be carried over by boat. And with limitations like no running water or electricity, there was nothing over there than what we can physically carry.”
Davis has personal ties to the lighthouse and the island, said Wood.
“Her great great grandfather was born in the original lighthouse, and her great great aunt was the lighthouse keeper,” said Wood. “Carol’s family, her great aunt, was the one who actually had the original idea of rebuilding the lighthouse. She helped start a fund for the rebuilding the lighthouse and the community fell in love with the idea and it took off.”
Considered to be Maryland’s version of Plymouth Rock, the volunteer group has just finished a three year project to restore the lighthouse revetment, said Richard Gass, one of the six founding members of St. Clements Hundred.
“It’s all the stone all around the lighthouse we restored, and it cost around $700,000,” said Gass. “With the help of the community and the state, we’ve been able to replicate and maintain this lighthouse for the generations to come.”
Participation in the group is a labor of love, said Gass.
“We’ve also planted over 450 trees on the island to return it to the state in which the colonists found it,” said Gass.
Aside from the lighthouse, all that is on the island is the commemorative cross, installed in 1939 on the 300th anniversary of the lighthouse’s installation, and a storage building to house what the group needs to maintain the landmark, said Donald Cropp, local contractor.
With the help of family and community members, the replica lighthouse was completed in a year and for half the estimated price, said Cropp.
Considering himself a history buff, Cropp said the lighthouse and the island are a significant part of national and state history.
“I was reading a story one time, and the old man in the story said that there wasn’t anyone he knew that didn’t like lighthouses. But the best way to learn the history of St. Clements Island and the replica lighthouse is to go visit,” said Cropp.
For more information about St. Clements Island and the replica Blackistone Lighthouse, check out the links.
Jacqui Atkielski can be contacted via email at j.atkielski@thebaynet.com.
