Paul McGehee "Fenwick Island Light" Jigsaw Puzzle

A nostalgic jigsaw puzzle by the award-winning artist Paul McGehee. "Fenwick Island Light" depicts Delaware's famous Fenwick Island Lighthouse, built in 1858, which stands on a small peninsula at the Delaware/Maryland border. The U.S. Congress voted on the funding and construction of a light at the southernmost point of the Delaware coastline in 1856...the 10-acre tract needed for the lighthouse was purchased from a private landowner for the sum of only $50.00! The 87' tall beacon tower of the all-brick lighthouse was completed in less than a year by a U.S. Army Captain and experienced construction engineer named William F. Raynolds. Aside from his talents in engineering, Raynolds was an explorer, mountain-climber, cartographer and became a decorated officer in the Union Army during the years of the Civil War. His detailed maps of Virginia and West Virginia helped win the war for the Union forces, and Raynolds was eventually promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Fenwick Island Lighthouse was equipped with a state-of-the-art Fresnel lens which could broadcast its light for miles beyond that of a normal beacon. The lighthouse guided the way for ships from 1859 until its decommissioning in 1978. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 by way of protecting it from developers. Public outcry eventually saw the light saved and relit, and the historic lighthouse tower and buildings were fully restored through private funding in 1998.