Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park

Bill Burton Fishing Pier
State Park
Seascape
Bill Burton Fishing Pier (foreground) and Choptank River Bridge
Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park is located in Maryland
Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park
Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park
Location in Maryland
LocationDorchester County and Talbot County, Maryland, United States
Nearest cityCambridge, Maryland
Coordinates38°35′26″N 76°02′40″W / 38.59056°N 76.04444°W / 38.59056; -76.04444
Area24 acres (9.7 ha)[1]
Established1987
Administered byMaryland Department of Natural Resources
StatusPier closed until further notice[2]
DesignationMaryland state park
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park (formerly the Choptank River Fishing Pier) is a public recreation area on the Choptank River in Trappe, Maryland. The state park preserves portions of the former Choptank River Bridge as a pier, and includes 25 acres (10 ha) of land upriver from the pier in Talbot County.[2]

The fishing pier was created after the Emerson C. Harrington Bridge, which had been dedicated in 1935 by President Franklin Roosevelt, was replaced with the Frederick C. Malkus Bridge in 1987.[3] In 2011, the pier was renamed to honor Bill Burton, a long-time outdoors writer and Chesapeake Bay fishing advocate, who played a significant role in preserving the old bridge as a fishing pier when the new bridge was constructed. The discovery of structural weakness below the waterline in 2022 resulted in the piers in both Dorchester and Talbot counties being closed until further notice.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference acreagereport was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference mdnr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference choptank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).