Point Lookout State Park - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Point Lookout, Maryland) State park in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States

Point Lookout State Park
View north from the lighthouse at Point Lookout
Point Lookout State ParkLocation in Maryland
Location	St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States
Nearest town	Lexington Park, Maryland
Coordinates	38°02′15″N 76°19′18″W / 38.03750°N 76.32167°W / 38.03750; -76.32167
Area	1,083 acres (438 ha)
Established	1964
Administered by	Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Designation	Maryland state park
Website	Official website

Point Lookout State Park is a public recreation area and historic preserve occupying Point Lookout, the southernmost tip of a peninsula formed by the confluence of Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River in St. Mary's County, Maryland. The state park preserves the site of an American Civil War prisoner of war camp and the Point Lookout Light, which was built in 1830. It is the southernmost spot on Maryland's western shore, the coastal region on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay.

Colonial period

Captain John Smith, the famed explorer who surveyed the Mid-Atlantic region for the British Crown, came ashore at Point Lookout in 1608. He surveyed the lands and waters of the area, including the mouth of the Potomac River on the south side of Point Lookout and its small nearby tributary, the St. Mary's River. Smith gave very favorable reports on the area to the king of England, remarking on the abundant game and fishing opportunities, the fertile soil and the strategic military value of the area, overlooking the confluence of the Potomac River, Patuxent River and the St. Mary's River, along with its key vantage point on the Chesapeake Bay itself. All of these factors led him to describe it as a prime spot for a potential British colony.

The first settlement in Maryland occurred in 1634, in nearby St. Mary's City. At that time, Point Lookout became part of St. Michael's Manor, one of the main holdings of Leonard Calvert, the leader of the new colony and the first proprietary governor of colonial Maryland.

Because of its strategic position, Point Lookout was raided by British forces during the American Revolution.

War of 1812

Royal Marines were stationed at Point Lookout during the British occupation in 1814 of the Chesapeake Campaign in the War of 1812.

British Colonial Marines of the Corps of Colonial Marines were stationed at Point Lookout during the British occupation in 1814 of the Chesapeake Campaign in the War of 1812.

Origin of area name, "Point Lookout"

The area got its name from its role as a lookout post, used to watch British ship movements during the War of 1812.

During the War of 1812 the Chesapeake Bay was a major route for British War ships, who established a naval and military base at near-by Tangier Island in Virginia for the Royal Navy under Rear Admiral George Cockburn with Fort Albion there, which constantly raided Chesapeake Bay waterfront towns, villages and farms and scattered community residents, and also eventually attacked and burned Washington, D.C., and unsuccessfully attacked the City of Baltimore during 1813 and 1814.

Citizen militia post riders

During the War of 1812, a local citizen militia in St. Mary's County established a clandestine base on Point Lookout to monitor movements of British warships on Chesapeake Bay. The militia also established a secret nighttime system of post riders to send intelligence reports from Point Lookout to Washington, D.C., in order to keep President James Madison up to date on British movements. St. Mary's County's roads were notoriously rough at the time, and the trek by horse was more than 80 miles, so a relay system was set up, passing messages from one rider to the next.

British forces take Point Lookout

The citizen militia worked clandestinely in the area for over a year, until the British came ashore, seized and occupied Point Lookout. The militia was no match for the overwhelming power and number of seasoned British ground troops. This had the effect of blinding American intelligence efforts in the region, and is thought to have contributed to the eventual Burning of Washington in August 1814 by British troops. President Madison and United States Secretary of War, John Armstrong, Jr. was later faulted for not aiding the militia in Point Lookout.

American Civil War

Establishment of prisoner-of-war camp

Sidney Lanier, poet, musician and academic, was a Confederate prisoner in Point Lookout

Point Lookout prisoner of war camp historical marker

In 1862, during the American Civil War, much of the land around Point Lookout was transformed into a bustling port and temporary city of civilians and military personnel and numerous buildings, including a large Union Army hospital, a United States Army garrison at Fort Lincoln, and a Union prisoner of war camp to hold Confederate States Army soldier captives.

Prisoners of war held, conditions

At the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, Union forces captured thousands of Confederate soldiers. Point Lookout was one of numerous military facilities hastily established as prisoner of war camps. Officially named Camp Hoffman, the 40-acre prison compound was established north of Hammond Hospital. A 15-foot tall wooden fence surrounded the compound, while guards kept watch from a gallery at the top of the fence.

According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, of the 50,000 soldiers held in the army prison camp at Lookout Point, all of whom were housed in tents, nearly 4,000 died. The death rate of 8 percent was less than half of the death rate among soldiers who were in the field with their own armies. The camp, originally built to hold 10,000 men, swelled to between 12,000 and 20,000 prisoners after the exchange of prisoners between armies was placed on hold. The result was crowded conditions with up to sixteen men to a tent in poor sanitary conditions. It was the largest Union-run prison camp and its reputation was one of the worst.

War memorial and cemetery

Mass grave

The mass grave holds 3,384 Confederate prisoners of war who died at the prison camp. The grave is marked by a pillar inscribed at its base with the names of the dead. The privately funded Confederate Memorial Park occupies a three-acre site next to the cemetery. Although a United States flag is flown in front of the memorial, a prominent Confederate flag is situated on a flagpole just outside the gates of the grounds, in memory of those dead Southern soldiers.

Archeological remains

Because of the extensive water erosion of the Chesapeake Bay shoreline in the last 150 years, half of the original site of the prisoner of war stockade has been obliterated and washed away by the bay.

State park and beaches

Today, Point Lookout State Park retains Point Lookout Light, the original lighthouse built in 1830, a fishing pier, boat launch facilities, public beaches and facilities, overnight camping, Civil War historical remains, and, reputedly, ghosts.

Notable people

Sidney Lanier, poet, musician, and academic was a Confederate prisoner of war at Point Lookout.

In popular culture

An expansion pack for the 2008 video game Fallout 3, entitled Point Lookout, is set in a post-apocalyptic version of Point Lookout and its surrounding areas.

References

"Point Lookout". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
"DNR Lands Acreage Report" (PDF). Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
"Maryland State Park History". Maryland DNR. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
^ "Point Lookout State Park History". Maryland DNR. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
Hoobler, Dorothy; Hoobler, Thomas (2006), Captain John Smith: Jamestown and the Birth of the American Dream, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 153–59, 212–13, ISBN 978-0-471-48584-1.
Horn, James (2005), A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America, New York: Basic Books (published 2006), pp. 83–87, 170–71, ISBN 978-0-465-03094-1
Grizzard, Frank E.; Hoobler, Thomas (2007), Jamestown Colony: A Political, Social and Cultural History, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO (published 2006), pp. 203–07, ISBN 978-1-85109-637-4.
Peter Himmelheber; Philip Davis; Linda Davis Reno (October 2002). "St. Mary's County, Maryland: Proprietary Manors". St. Mary's Families. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
^ "Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery: Ridge, Maryland". National Park Service. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
"Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery". U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
"Point Lookout Prison Camp Records". University of Michigan. Archived from the original on February 26, 2005. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
"Prison History". Descendants of Point Lookout POW Organization. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
"Point Lookout Prisoner of War Camp". The American Civil War. mycivilwar.com. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
Ken Stover. "Civil War Prison Camps". Civil War Academy.com. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
"Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery". Interment.net. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
"Confederate Memorial Park". Confederate Memorial Park, Inc. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
"Point Lookout State Park". Maryland DNR. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
"The Spirits of Point Lookout". Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
"Point Lookout State Park". National Park Service. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
"Point Lookout State Park, Civil War Museum & Lighthouse". Visit St Mary's MD. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
"Sidney Lanier". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
Subhan, Ishraq (May 11, 2022). "This Fallout 4 mod recreates all of Fallout 3's Point Lookout DLC". PCGamesN. Retrieved March 25, 2024.

External links

Point Lookout State Park Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MD-111, "Steamboat COLUMBUS, Submerged south-southeast of Point Lookout, Scotland, St. Mary's County, MD", 5 measured drawings
Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) No. MD-7, "Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery, Point Lookout, Ridge, St. Mary's County, MD", 10 photos, 2 photo caption pages
Point Lookout Civil War collection at the University of Maryland Libraries

Protected areas of Maryland

Federal

National battlefields	Antietam Monocacy
National historical parks	Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad
National historic sites	Clara Barton Hampton Thomas Stone
National monuments	Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
National marine sanctuaries	Mallows Bay–Potomac River
National seashores	Assateague Island
National Park Service parks	Catoctin Mountain Fort Foote Fort Washington Glen Echo Greenbelt Harmony Hall Oxon Cove and Oxon Hill Farm Piscataway
National wildlife refuges	Blackwater Eastern Neck Glenn Martin Patuxent Research Susquehanna River
National historic and scenic trails	Appalachian Captain John Smith Chesapeake Potomac Heritage Star-Spangled Banner
Other protected areas	Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

State

State parks	Assateague Big Run Bill Burton Fishing Pier Calvert Cliffs Canal Place Casselman River Bridge Chapel Point Cunningham Falls Dans Mountain Deep Creek Lake Elk Neck Fort Frederick Fort Tonoloway Gambrill Gathland Greenbrier Greenwell Gunpowder Falls Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Hart-Miller Island Herrington Manor Janes Island Martinak Matapeake New Germany North Point Palmer Patapsco Valley Patuxent River Pocomoke River Point Lookout Purse Rocks Rocky Gap Rosaryville Sandy Point Seneca Creek Smallwood South Mountain St. Clement's Island St. Mary's River Susquehanna Swallow Falls Tuckahoe Washington Monument Wye Oak
State forests	Cedarville Chesapeake Doncaster Elk Neck Garrett Green Ridge Mount Nebo Pocomoke Potomac Savage River Seth Stoney Wicomico
Wildlife management areas	Avondale Belle Grove Billmeyer Bodkin Island Bowen Cedar Island Cedar Point Cheltenham Chicamuxen Chicone Creek Cunningham Swamp Dan's Mountain Deal Island Devil Island Area Dierssen E.A. Vaughn Earleville Ellis Bay Fairmount Fishing Bay Fort Hill Globe Com Gravel Hill Swamp Grove Farm Gwynnbrook Heater's Island Hopkins Branch Hugg-Thomas Idylwild Indian Springs Islands of the Potomac Isle of Wight Johnson Kent Island Research Center Le Compte Linkwood Little Patuxent Oxbow Maryland Marine Properties McIntosh Run McKee-Beshers Millington Mt. Nebo Myrtle Grove Nanjemoy Nanjemoy Creek Nanticoke River Old Bohemia Parker's Creek Pocomoke River Pocomoke Sound Prather's Neck Ridenour Swamp Riverside Sideling Hill Sinepuxent Bay South Marsh Island Strider Tar Bay Taylors Island Warrior Mountain Wellington Wetipquin
Natural environment areas	Belt Woods Mattawoman Morgan Run Severn Run Soldiers Delight Youghiogheny Scenic & Wild River Zekiah Swamp

County and
municipal

Parks and sanctuaries

Non-
governmental

Parks and sanctuaries	Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Conservation and Environmental Research Areas of UMBC Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary and Visitor's Center Mount Pleasant Farm Center Sherwood Gardens Somers Cove Marina Sugarloaf Mountain University of Maryland Arboretum & Botanical Garden Western Maryland Rail Trail Youghiogheny Scenic & Wild River
Nature centers	List

v t e Nature centers in Maryland
Anne Arundel County	Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary
Baltimore city	Carrie Murray Cylburn Arboretum Masonville Cove Environmental Education Center
Baltimore County	Cromwell Valley Park Irvine Marshy Point Oregon Ridge Sparks Bank Nature Center at Gunpowder Falls State Park
Calvert County	Battle Creek Cypress Swamp
Carroll County	Bear Branch Charlotte's Quest Piney Run
Cecil County	Fair Hill
Frederick County	Fountain Rock Park
Garrett County	Deep Creek Lake State Park New Germany State Park
Harford County	Eden Mill Harford Glen Environmental Education Center
Howard County	Howard County Conservancy Robinson Nature Center
Montgomery County	Agricultural History Farm Park Black Hill Visitors Center Brookside Gardens Croydon Creek Locust Grove Maydale Meadowside Woodend Nature Sanctuary
Prince George's County	Clearwater Hard Bargain Farm Environmental Center Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary and Visitor's Center Mt. Rainier Patuxent Research Refuge National Wildlife Visitor Center Watkins
St. Mary's County	Point Lookout State Park
Talbot County	Phillips Wharf Environmental Center Pickering Creek Audubon Center

v t e Maryland in the American Civil War
Battles	Maryland Campaign Antietam Boonsboro Crampton's Gap Folck's Mill Funkstown Hancock Monocacy South Mountain Williamsport
Events	Baltimore Riot of 1861 Ex parte Merryman Special Order 191 Maryland Constitution of 1864
Miscellaneous	"Maryland, My Maryland"
Museums	Baltimore Civil War Museum National Museum of Civil War Medicine President Street Station Surratt House Museum USS Constellation
People	Union regiments Confederate regiments Soldiers and civilians
Places	Antietam Battlefield Burnside's Bridge Fort Marshall Fort McHenry Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area Loudon Park Cemetery Monocacy Battlefield Point Lookout State Park

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types
Lists by county	Allegany Anne Arundel Baltimore County Calvert Caroline Carroll Cecil Charles Dorchester Frederick Garrett Harford Howard Kent Montgomery Prince George's Queen Anne's Somerset St. Mary's Talbot Washington Wicomico Worcester
Lists by city	Baltimore: (Central North and Northwest West and Southwest East and Northeast South and Southeast)
Other lists	Bridges National Historic Landmarks
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Portal:National Register of Historic Places