b'Illuminating APGsPooles Island LightStory by Gregory J. Mahallwww.army.mil/article/229430/illuminating_apgs_pooles_island_lightAberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland One could do a random poll of the APG workforce asking the question Do you know what Pooles Island is? and it is highly likely that the majority of responders wouldnot know of the 280-acre, narrow islandowned as part of APG off the southernend of the Edgewood peninsula.U.S. Army photo by Sean KiefAnd now, the restored Pooles Island lighthouse will appear in a Maryland Public Television (MPT) documentary on Lighthouses of the Chesapeake Bay, slated for airing inWashingtons Army in the Revolutionary War. It wasspring 2020. A television crew from MPT was transported tooccupied and plundered by British soldiers in the War of the island for initial filming in late October; a final air date is1812. In the following peacetime, it became famous foryet to be determined. its crops, especially peaches. In 1824, it was designatedAPG is a base unique to all of DoD, said APG Garrisonand marked for lighthouse construction by Congress and the commander Col. Timothy E. Druell. Included in our key DoDGovernment purchased a parcel of land for $500 on March mission are responsibilities to environmental stewardship,25, 1825.historical preservation and restoration, and being greatIn April 1925, John Donahoo was contracted to construct neighbors to our surrounding community. Army efforts atthe lighthouse. If you think it a replica of Concord Point the Poole Island Light are reflective of our commitment tolighthouse in Havre de Grace or Turkey Point Light in Elkton, excellence in those areas. you are correct; Donahoo built those as well. The conical We were thrilled to support MPT in this effort and looktower on Pooles stands 40 feet, 6 inches tall with a diameter forward to the finished project. of 18 feet at its base tapering to 9.5 feet in the light room. There are still nine active lighthouses in Virginia withIt is made of granite blocks imported from Port Deposit. another 16 active in Maryland. Almost all, with the exceptionMaryland-made true and true.of Virginias Assateague Island Lght, are associated withThe light was improved and maintained as needed over the water on the Chesapeake Bay. The Pooles Island Light will beyears but became a part of Aberdeen Proving Ground on its in grand, historical company. inception in 1917, the year the United States entered World Of the thousands of people that work here at APG, Id beWar I. Given the dangerous nature of artillery fire at the proving willing to bet less than 100 know about Pooles Island, saidground the last lightkeeper was removed in 1918. Pooles Mark T. Gallihue, a historian with APG Garrison. The PoolesIsland is currently inaccessible to the public due to both the Island Light is situated on the northwest corner of the island,islands status as a military reservationwhich sits near the mouths of the Gunpowder and Bush Rivers. and from live fire exercises . In addition, the threat from It was first charted by Captain John Smith and manyunexploded ordnance presents a risk to anyone venturing on believe he named it Powells Island for a crew member, but itthe island. Garrison Explosive Ordnance Detachment experts eventually evolved to Pooles Island likely due to the spring-feddid a visual scan of the island prior to the MPT visit as a pools of water found on the island. safety precaution as well.The island traces its bountiful history back to the The island is configured a lot like the state of New Jersey, earliest days of America. It served as a supply base forGallihue said. Wider at top and bottom, more narrow in the 12 Military Appreciation Resource Magazine Aberdeen Proving Ground'