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The Saint Mary's Beacon was a weekly newspaper published in Leonardtown, Maryland, between 1867 and 1983. It was previously published as the Leonard Town Herald (1839-1840s), St. Mary’s Beacon (1845-1863), and St. Mary's Gazette (1863-1867).
The Beacon appeared weekly on Thursday mornings, with annual subscriptions available for $1.50. Advertising space was sold at a rate of $1.00 per 12-line square for the first three ads placed, and 25 cents for each subsequent advertisement. The Beacon's motto was "Devoted to Literature, News, Agriculture and General Intelligence." In its early incarnations, it printed agricultural and market news, stories and articles reprinted from other publications, poetry, editorials, letters to the editor, public notices, state and local news, and classified ads.
The St. Mary’s Beacon was suppressed from late April to September 1863, but revived and re-titled the Saint Mary's Gazette by Walter Thompson resuming publication beginning with the October 1, 1863, issue. The annual subscription for Saint Mary's Gazette was available for $2.00, an increased price from its predecessor. The paper was renamed the Saint Mary's Beacon in 1867 and moved to a publishing schedule of 20 issues per year. In 1983, the paper was purchased by Chesapeake Publishing Corporation, retitled The Beacon, and reduced to 10 issues yearly.