Point Lookout State Park
Point Lookout State Park | |
---|---|
Location | 11175 Point Lookout Road, Scotland, Maryland |
Nearest town | Lexington Park, Maryland |
Coordinates | 38°02′15″N 76°19′18″W / 38.03750°N 76.32167°W[1] |
Area | 1,083 acres (4.38 km2)[2] |
Designation | Maryland state park |
Established | 1964[3] |
Administrator | Maryland Department of Natural Resources |
Website | Point Lookout State Park |
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.[4] It is the southernmost spot on Maryland's western shore, the coastal region on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay.
Colonial period
The first settlement in Maryland occurred in 1634, in nearby
Because of its strategic position, Point Lookout was raided by British forces during the American Revolution.[4][8]
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.[9]
During the War of 1812 the
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
American Civil War
Establishment of prisoner-of-war camp
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
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.[9]
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.[9][10] 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.[4] 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.[9] The result was crowded conditions with up to sixteen men to a tent in poor sanitary conditions.[11] It was the largest Union-run prison camp and its reputation was one of the worst.[12][13][14]
War memorial and cemetery
Mass grave
The mass grave
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.[17][9]
State park and beaches
Today, Point Lookout State Park retains
Notable people
- Sidney Lanier, poet, musician, and academic was a Confederate prisoner of war at Point Lookout.[21]
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.[22]
See also
- American Civil War
- Prisoner of war mail (Civil War era)
- List of Civil War POW Prisons and Camps
- History of Maryland
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. 2022. p. 9. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
- ^ "Maryland State Park History". Maryland DNR. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Point Lookout State Park History". Maryland DNR. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-471-48584-1.
- ISBN 978-0-465-03094-1
- 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g "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 25 March 2024.
- ^ "Point Lookout State Park". National Park Service. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ "Point Lookout State Park, Civil War Museum & Lighthouse". Visit St Mary's MD. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ "Sidney Lanier". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ Subhan, Ishraq (11 May 2022). "This Fallout 4 mod recreates all of Fallout 3's Point Lookout DLC". PCGamesN. Retrieved 25 March 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