No takers: Chesapeake Bay lighthouse up for auction, still waiting for bidders

For sale: a 102-year-old lighthouse in Chesapeake Bay. Needs lots of TLC. Starting bid: $15,000.

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The U.S. government is looking to unload the Hooper Island Lighthouse, located about 4 miles west of Middle Hooper Island in Maryland’s portion of Chesapeake Bay, WJLA-TV reported.

The online auction sale of the lighthouse, which was built in 1902, officially opened for bids on Aug. 8, according to the U.S. General Services Administration. The opening bid is $15,000 but there have been no takers so far.

That is because whoever wins the bidding would have to spend a great deal of cash fixing it, The Washington Post reported. The lighthouse is also located in a Navy-controlled “danger area,” according to the newspaper.

There are no romantic tales attached to the lighthouse, and not even any ghost stories, according to Henry Gonzalez, vice president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.

“There’s nothing really that stands out a lot,” Gonzalez told the Post. “We don’t have any ghost stories, unfortunately.”

The lighthouse stands in 18 feet of water with a focal plane height of 63 feet, according to WBOC-TV. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec. 2, 2002.

Congress provided the funds to build the lighthouse in two $30,000 allotments made in 1898 and 1899, according to the Lighthouse Friends website.

The federal government has been trying to sell the lighthouse since 2017, the Post reported. Without any nibbles, the GSA decided on an auction.

GSA spokesperson Will Powell told the newspaper that last-minute bids are not unusual.

The auction has a Sept. 21 closing date.

Since 2000, when the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act took effect, the GSA has transferred about 148 lighthouses, the Post reported.

Those interested in bidding are required to register in advance and submit a $5,000 deposit, WBOC reported.

People interested in registering to bid can sign up at www.RealEstateSales.gov. The site is closed through the Labor Day weekend, however, but it is expected to reopen on Tuesday.

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