Maryland's Western Shore (not to be confused with Western Maryland) is an area of Maryland west of the Chesapeake Bay. Originally, it included all areas not on the Eastern Shore and some colonial and later state government functions were administered separately for each region. The term no longer identifies an official region of Maryland and is used in contrast to the "Eastern Shore", which has long had a distinct historical, cultural, sociological, and economic character and sense of personality, well-known in American and state history, politics and events, especially before the 1952 construction of the Gov. William Preston Lane Memorial Bridge (Chesapeake Bay Bridge).