The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. The east coast state of Maryland straddles the northern half of the Chesapeake Bay, the great estuary formed by the lower course of the Susquehanna River. The two sides of the Chesapeake are known in Maryland as the Eastern Shore and the Western Shore. Baltimore, on the Western Shore, is the state's largest city and a major port. Another broad estuary, the Potomac River, forms part of the southern border of Maryland and leads to the national capital of Washington. Maryland's Eastern Shore also has a short section of coastline facing the Atlantic between Delaware and Virginia. There are no lighthouses on this section although the Fenwick Island Light is in Delaware only a few feet from the Maryland border. In the early nineteenth century John Donahoo (1786-1858) built a dozen stone or brick lighthouses on the upper Chesapeake. Seven survive and two are still active. Maryland is also famous for its cottage-style screwpile lighthouses, although only four of these picturesque buildings remain. In 1900 there were 45 cottage screwpile lighthouses on the Chesapeake. In a few cases modern lights are mounted on the original screwpile platform and these stations are included below. Navigational aids in the United States are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard but ownership (and sometimes operation) of historic lighthouses has been transferred to local authorities and preservation organizations in many cases. Maryland lights are the responsibility of the Coast Guard's Sector Maryland-National Capital Region based at Baltimore with an Aids to Navigation Team for the Eastern Shore at Crisfield. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights, Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals, and USCG numbers are from Vol. II of the U.S. Coast Guard Light List.
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![]() Sharkfin Shoal Light, Chesapeake Bay, December 2004 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Craig Bruce |
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![]() Worton Point Light, Newtown, November 2011 photo copyright Dan Hatcher; used by permission |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Southeastern Pennsylvania | East: Delaware | South: Virginia | West: Maryland Western Shore
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Checked and revised July 31, 2024. Lighthouses: 24. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.