Screw-pile lighthouses stand on piles which are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms. The first screw-pile lighthouse was built by blind Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell. It was constructed in 1838 at the mouth of the Thames and was known as the Maplin Sand lighthouse.

In the United States, screw-pile lighthouses proliferated in the Chesapeake Bay due to its estuarial soft bottom. North Carolina's sounds and river entrances were also once home to many screw-pile lights. The characteristic design is a one and a half story hexagonal wooden building with dormers and a cupola light room.