Point Lookout State Park
| Point Lookout State Park, Maryland, USA | |
|---|---|
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
 | |
| Location | Saint Mary's County, Maryland, USA |
| Area | 1,042 acres (4.22 km²) |
| Governing body | Maryland Department of Natural Resources |
Point Lookout is a Maryland state park at the southern tip of St. Mary's County, Maryland. It is a peninsula formed by the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River.
Captain John Smith first explored the Point in 1612. Leonard Calvert used the Point for his personal manor in 1634. During the American Revolution, and again in the War of 1812, it was subject to British raids.
In 1862 during the American Civil War, much of Point Lookout was transformed into a Union prisoner of war camp to hold Confederate captives. Of the 50,000 men held in tents at the Point between 1863 and 1865, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, nearly 4,000 died, although this death rate of 8 percent was less than half the death rate among soldiers who were in the field with their own armies.[1]. The camp, originally built to hold 10,000 men, swelled to between 12,000 to 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 sanitation conditions.[2] In some cases the guards were former slaves of the prisoners, and this sometimes resulted in brutal or favorable treatment.[1]
Today Point Lookout is a Maryland State Park and retains Point Lookout Light, the original light house built in 1830, a fishing pier, boat launch facilities, public beaches and facilities, overnight camping, Civil War historical remains, and, reputedly, ghosts. The Civil War Museum/Marshland Nature Center is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 A.M until 5 P.M. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 A.M. until 6 P.M. until the end of October.
Notes
- ^ a b Point Lookout History, from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources
- ^ Point Lookout Prison Camp Records - University of Michigan
External links
- Point Lookout State Park
- Point Lookout State Park history
- Point Lookout State Park in World Database on Protected Areas
- Point Lookout is part of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network
- Point Lookout Sketches at the American Memorary from the Library of Congress Website
- Confederate Memorial Park at Point Lookout
- University of Michigan site concerning Point Lookout Civil War papers and brief history.
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