Highland Beach

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This beach is located in the small historic town of the same name. Highland is the first black-owned summer resort community in the USA. The beach resort was was established because of an act of racial discrimination against its founders, Charles and Laura Douglass. The couple were denied entry to The Bay Ridge Resort on Chesapeake Bay because they were black. The town was incorporated in 1922, becoming Maryland's first African-American municipality.

The beach, located on Chesapeake Bay, has been described as "simple, but wonderful".

Photo: Beach goers, Highland Beach, Maryland, 1930, Image courtesy National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Read Angela Dennis' incredible profile of historically Black Beaches in the USA: https://medium.com/@AngelaDennisWrites/six-historically-black-beaches-to-visit-this-summer-46045aa3e348
You can read more here about systemic racism against black people at USA beaches here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/12/americas-segregated-shores-beaches-long-history-as-a-racial-battleground

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests at least 95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on July 21st, 2021. Swim Guide - Main updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on July 26th, 2021 at 1:54 PM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Current Weather

23°C

Clear and sunny

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

The Anne Arundel County Department of Health collects water samples from Memorial Day - Labour Day. The water is tested for enterococci, bacteria found in the intestine of all warm-blooded animals.

Swim Guide checks for the latest information daily, Monday - Friday during the swimming season.

A beach is marked Green when there is less than 104 MPN (Most Probable Number) colonies of Enterococci / 100 ml of water for bodies of water that are sampled weekly or bi-weekly and 158 MPN colonies / 100 ml of water for bodies of water that are tested monthly.

A beach is marked Red when there are more than 104 MPN colonies / 100 ml of water for beaches that are tested weekly or bi-weekly and 158 MPN colonies / 100 ml of water for bodies of water that are tested monthly. A beach will also be posted if results from an area that has been resampled 5 times due to high levels of bacteria come back with results over 35 MPN colonies / 100 ml of water.

A beach is marked Grey when there is no current or reliable monitoring information available.

Maryland Healthy Beaches notification system has partnered with Google Earth to send updates. However, Swim Guide prefers to contact the Health Department directly as we are unable to determine the monitoring schedule Google Earth uses. The Anne Arundel Department of Health operates a 24-hour automated test results phone line at 410-222-7999.

A “no direct water contact” advisory is placed on beaches for 48 hours after a heavy rainfall, however the Anne Arundel County Department of Health’s website and The Maryland Healthy Beaches website are not updated.

Water Quality Graph