The Piney
Point Lighthouse, Museum
and Historic Park
The Piney Point Lighthouse Museum, flooded and closed by Hurricane
Isabel in 2003, is now relocated on higher ground on the park's northern
campus. This two-story structure currently houses the Lighthouse Lens
Museum Store and offers restrooms and visitor information. The museum
exhibits are being developed and installed in the museum building's first
floor, a project that will continue into 2008.
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HOURS OF OPERATION
The grounds of the Piney Point Lighthouse, Museum and Historic
Park are open to the public sunrise to sunset 7 days a week.
The site will be staffed and open for public tours weekends in
October through the third weekend in December with access to the
museum, Lighthouse Lens Museum Store, Potomac River Maritime
Exhibit, and lighthouse tower. Staffed hours will resume on March
25, 2009.
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Pier and
docking facilities are available.
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Picnic tables
are available.
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Guided tours
for students and adults are available by pre-arrangement with the
Site Supervisor at
301-994-1471.
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Admission:
$3 adults, $1.50 Children 6 - 18, Free Children 5
and under.
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The Piney
Point Lighthouse Museum & Historic Park is A.D.A. compliant.
For Directions Click
Here
Piney Point
Lighthouse Museum and Historic Park
44720 Lighthouse Road
Piney Point, Maryland 20674
301-994-1471
301-994-1918 FAX |
Exhibits will focus on the construction and operation of the
lighthouse, the role of the United States Coast Guard, the attraction of
the Piney Point area as a get away for the social elite, and the story of
the Black Panther U-1105 German submarine sunk in the Potomac that now
serves as Maryland's first historic shipwreck dive preserve.
Lighthouse Lens Museum Store
The museum store offers an array of Piney Point Lighthouse souvenirs,
nautical gifts, books, jewelry, clothing, children's corner and more! The
store is operated by the Friends of the St. Clement's Island and Piney
Point Museums with proceeds returning to support museum programs, projects
and exhibits. The Lighthouse Lens is your destination for unique quality
gifts. And for the "one who has everything," consider a gift membership to
The Friends! Museum members receive a 10% discount on store purchases.
The Potomac River Maritime Exhibit
Also located on the northern campus is the building that houses the
collection of four historic wooden vessels on loan from the Paul
Hall School of Maritime Training and Education. The collection is
comprised of a 67-foot skipjack (Joy Parks), an 84-foot bugeye
(Dorothy A. Parsons), a log canoe, and Potomac River dory boat.
The
exhibit focuses on the life of the watermen who
sustained a livelihood working the waters of the Potomac for crabs, fish
and oysters.
Piney Point Lighthouse Grounds and Pier
Come by boat! The Piney Point Lighthouse Museum and Historic Park is also
accessible by boat, offering a sturdy handicap accessible pier with
accompanying step down platform. The pier connects to the wooden boardwalk
that surrounds the lighthouse grounds. The scenic riverside venue of the
lighthouse offers guests not only an aesthetic panorama and serene escape
but comfortable benches and picnic tables to accommodate an extended
visit.
Piney Point Lighthouse
“The
Lighthouse of Presidents”
Built in 1836, the
Piney Point Lighthouse and keeper’s quarters are located 14 miles up the
Potomac River from the Chesapeake Bay. This beacon stands preserved today
as a witness to a bygone era of high society entertaining American
Presidents such as James Monroe, Franklin Pierce, Theodore Roosevelt and
other notables including Daniel Webster, Daniel C. Calhoun, and later,
the inimitable Kate Smith.
The lighthouse and
keeper’s quarters were built by master lighthouse builder, John Donahoo
for the contracted price of $3,888. The circular tower stands 35 feet tall
from its base to the coping and the walls are 3 feet 10 inches thick at
the base and 2 feet 3 inches at the parapet. This lighthouse was the
tenth of the 12 lighthouses built by Donahoo in his lifetime.
The
Piney Point Lighthouse was a working beacon from 1836 until 1964 when it
was decommissioned by the United States Coast Guard. This lighthouse
served river navigators through the Civil War years, the steamboat era,
and both World Wars as witness to U.S. munitions testing. In 1980
the vacated property was deeded to St. Mary’s County by the federal
government.
Time and tide had
taken its toll by the time preservation efforts of the Piney Point
Lighthouse began in earnest in 1990 by the Museum Division of St. Mary’s
County Department of Recreation and Parks. The Lighthouse was restored
and the outbuildings were renovated. The Keeper’s Quarters are a private
residence for security and grounds keeping purposes. The recently
restored tower steps allow visitors a bird's-eye view of the area at the
Annual Piney Point Celebration in May.
The lighthouse tower is open for climbing during visitor
museum hours of operation.
Lighthouse Keepers
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1836 Philip
Clark
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1840 Henry
C. Heard
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1845
Charlotte Suter
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1846 William
B.
Taylor
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1849 John N.
Nuthall
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1850 Martha Nuthall
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1861 Robert
Marshall
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1865 Henry
Steinhise
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1869 Noah
Wilson
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1873
Elizabeth Wilson
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1877 Helen
Tune
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1883 Thomas
W. Costin
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1910 George Costin
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1910 William Slacum
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1911 Loch
Humphries
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1910 William Yeatman
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1931 William Goeshy
Directions:
From
Baltimore/Washington, D.C.:
Take 495/95 to exit 7a (Route 5 south to Waldorf). Follow Route 5 south
through Leonardtown to Callaway. Turn right on Route 249. Drive 9 miles
to Piney Point making a right onto Lighthouse Road
to the end.
From Virginia:
Take State Route
301 to 234 east to Leonardtown. Turn right on Route 5 South through
Leonardtown to Callaway. Turn right on Route 249. Drive 9 miles to Piney
Point making a right onto Lighthouse Road
to the end.
Click Here for directions from MapQuest
