This is a list of all

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

s in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

as identified by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. There are fourteen active lights in the state as well as three automated caissons and eleven skeleton towers replacing previously staffed lights. The first lighthouse in the state was lit in 1822 and the last in 1965 (ignoring automated towers erected later); the oldest surviving structure is the

Pooles Island Light Pooles Island Light is the oldest lighthouse still standing in Maryland and the fourth oldest in the Chesapeake Bay area. The light is located on Pooles Island in the central Chesapeake Bay. History Pooles Island was originally named Powell's ...

and the oldest still active is the

Cove Point Light The Cove Point Light is a lighthouse located on the west side of Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Maryland. History This light was built in 1828 by John Donahoo, who erected a brick conical tower along the plan he had used at several other site ...

. The tallest extant tower is the

Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light The Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light is one of a pair of range lights that marks the first section of the shipping channel into Baltimore harbor. It is the tallest lighthouse in Maryland. History Congress appropriated $50,000 in 1870 to e ...

. If not otherwise noted, focal height and coordinates are taken from the United States Coast Guard ''

Light List A list of lights is a publication describing lighthouses and other aids to maritime navigation. Most such lists are published by national hydrographic offices. Some nations, including the United Kingdom and the United States, publish lists that ...

'', while location and dates of activation, automation, and deactivation are taken from the

Historical information site for lighthouses. Locations of demolished lights have been estimated using

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

(NOAA) navigational charts.

References

{{Lighthouses in the United States

Lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...