Maine

Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820, under the Missouri Compromise, when it was separated from Massachusetts. It has about 230 miles of ocean coastline on the map and about 3,500 miles of tidal coastline once the coves and peninsulas are counted.

Much of that coast is rock, and the lighthouses were there to keep ships off it. The oldest is Portland Head Light, at Cape Elizabeth, first lit on January 10, 1791. George Washington directed its construction in 1787. The sea has paid in lobster as well: Maine is the country's largest lobster producer.

A white tower with a black lantern stands on a granite headland, a red-roofed keeper's house beside it and dark spruce crowding the left. Waves break white against the rocks below, and a red lobster boat rides the swell at the lower right. The state's name runs across the base in cream letters on a navy band between stripes of red, with a sprig of pine under it.