Built in 1883 at the mouth of the Magothy River to mark the dangerous Sandy Point Shoal, Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse stood on a wood caisson foundation supporting a 35-foot-diameter, 32-and-a-half-foot-high cement-filled cast-iron cylinder. The lighthouse itself was a 24-foot-square, three-story brick masonry dwelling, 37 feet tall, with truncated corners that gave it an octagonal shape and a mansard roof with dormers. The first two levels served as living quarters for keepers and assistant keepers, while the third level was the watch room. In March 1895, keeper John Reynolds sent his assistant ashore for medicine, and during the assistant's absence, ice piled 16 feet high around the lighthouse, forcing Reynolds to tend the light alone for 16 days. Its history began with a first lighthouse marking Sandy Point Shoal in 1858, a three-story house built on land at what is now Sandy Point State Park. In 1874 the Lighthouse Board determined that the land-based lighthouse was inadequate for the heavy volume of passenger steamers, and in 1882 Congress appropriated $25,000 for construction of the current caisson-design lighthouse. Construction of the caisson and three-story dwelling followed in 1883, 1,000 yards from Sandy Point State Park. In 1901, 670 cubic yards of riprap stone were placed to secure the caisson foundation. The lighthouse was automated in 1963. In 1979 vandals entered and destroyed the Fresnel lens with a baseball bat, and in the 1980s the Coast Guard carried out major repairs and restoration. In 2002 it was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places, in 2005 the GSA declared it excess property, and in 2006 it was sold at public auction for $250,000.