Lighthouses

Two dozen Maryland lighthouses remain standing. Several that still serve the U.S. Coast Guard are also popular tourist attractions. Even those that are not publicly accessible are worth admiring from a distance.

PRIMARY SOURCES: U.S. Coast Guard (www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMD.asp); U.S. Lighthouse Society, Chesapeake Chapter (www.cheslights.org); National Park Service (www.nps.gov); Maryland Historical Trust (www.maryalndhistoricaltrust.net)

Take the Maryland Lighthouse Challenge

One September weekend each year, the Chesapeake Chapter of the United States Lighthouse Society sponsors a Maryland Lighthouse Challenge. At each participating, land-based lighthouse you visit during the two-day event, you receive a commemorative souvenir. Visit the Lightship Chesapeake in Baltimore and all nine Challenge Lights, and you are entitled to one more souvenir to complete the set. Participating lights include: Concord Point, Cove Point, Drum Point, Fort Washington, Hooper Strait, Piney Point, Point Lookout, Seven-Foot Knoll and Turkey Point. There is also a "bonus" option: View the offshore Sandy Point Shoal Light from land and the Blackistone replica by boat. You do not need to visit all of the lighthouses to participate.

Learn more at www.cheslights.org/challenge.htm or by calling 410-437-0741.