Cove Point Light, on the west side of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, marks a shoal projecting into the bay and remains an active aid to navigation as the bay’s oldest continuously operating lighthouse. Built in 1828 by John Donahoo after plans shifted from Cedar Point to the more dangerous Cove Point shoal, the station evolved through repeated upgrades to its lamps, lenses, and fog signals. Its buildings also changed to support keepers and their families, while a seawall protected the eroding shoreline. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, the light was automated in 1986 and transferred to Calvert County in 2000.