Sign Up  /  Login

Point Lookout POW Camp LbNA #2056 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:May 1, 2003
Location:
City:Scotland
County:St. Mary's
State:Maryland
Boxes:1
Found by: slackdaddy
Last found:Nov 2, 2002
Status:Faaaaaa
Last edited:May 1, 2003

*** Temporarily listed by MD Orphan. Please contact me if you are the owner of this letterbox. ***

Placed by “Go Against the Flow”
October 15, 2002
Region: St. Mary’s County, Central Maryland
Difficulty: Moderate

DIRECTIONS FROM BALTIMORE (2.5 to 3 hours)

Take local routes / highways to get to Route 97
Route 97 South to Route 3 South
Route 3 South becomes Route 301 South after crossing over Route 50
Continue on Route 301 South through Bowie / Mitchellville
Take Route 4 South in Upper Marlboro
Follow Route 4 South all the way across the Solomon’s Island Bridge
After the bridge, take a left at the first traffic light onto Route 235 South
Follow Route 235 South well past the Air Station, into the town of Ridge (there will be a blinking red light)
Turn left onto Route 5 South
Follow Route 5 South until it ends (approximately seven miles) at the park entrance
Go through the park entrance ($3 per person from May through September)
Turn right into the Boat Launch parking area (limited small car parking in rear, near trail head)
Look for the Hiker's Sign to begin the trek

DIRECTIONS FROM WASHINGTON, DC (2.5 hours)

Take local routes / highways to get to 495
Follow 495 to Route 4 / Pennsylvania Avenue south to Upper Marlboro
Follow directions listed above, beginning with Route 4 South

DIRECTIONS FROM ROUTE 301 BRIDGE (1 hour)

Continue on Route 301 North until you reach Route 234
Take Route 234 towards Leonardtown
When you reach the end of Route 234 at Route 5, turn right
Follow Route 5 South until it ends at the Point Lookout State Park entrance
Go through the park entrance ($3 per person from May through September)
Turn right into the Boat Launch parking area (limited small car parking in rear, near trail head)
Look for the Hiker's Sign to begin the trek

PARK INFORMATION

Point Lookout State Park, a picturesque peninsula formed by the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River, abounds in recreational opportunities and history. Residents and visitors often enjoy swimming, fishing, boating and camping activities. The cost is $3 per person May through September, on weekends and holidays only.

This park’s peaceful surroundings belie its history as the location of a prison camp that imprisoned as many as 52,264 Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. In 1862, following General George B. McClellan’s unsuccessful campaign to capture Richmond, the federal government erected Hammond Hospital at the tip of the point. The ward buildings radiated in spoke fashion from a central bay. Wounded and sick soldiers began pouring in for treatment. The following year, after the Battle of Gettysburg, Union authorities started sending Confederate prisoners to Point Lookout for incarceration. As the prisoner population swelled to 20,000 and more, Union soldiers constructed a wooden walled prisoner pen along the bay-shore. Most of the prison pen site rests under bay waters now. Union soldiers held the rebel captives inside this walled area, where they lived in tents. Exposure, disease and starvation took their toll and nearly 4,000 men died between 1863 and 1865. A memorial to the north of the state park along Route 5 honors these men.

Among the Federal Army units to rotate from the front to serve as guards at Point Lookout were African-American soldiers of the USCT (United States Colored Troops) Regiments. Among these soldiers were SGT Christian A. Fleetwood of the USCT, a Baltimore native and Medal of Honor winner, and SGT Charles Douglass, the son of noted abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

The ravages of time and nature have shorn Point Lookout of many vestiges of its history. There is, nevertheless, much to see. A museum on site recounts its vivid history. This state park also contains historic Fort Lincoln, a Union fortification during the Civil War. Its earth works still exist on the river shore near Cornfield Harbor. The Friends of Point Lookout recreated the barracks and officer’s quarters of Fort Lincoln and a portion of the Point Lookout POW Camp’s prison pen. Point Lookout sponsors historic programs, demonstrations and Living History weekends each year. Popular annual festivals include the Confederate Memorial Service in June as well as Blue and Gray Days in May.

NOW FOR THE CLUES …

Just follow these simple clues and you will not fail
Cross the wooden bridge and traverse the marshy trail
Keep to the right along the water’s lapping edge
Climb across gray boulders until the concrete ledge
Halfway down this pier, jump to the beach and head south
On your right should be the Potomac River mouth
Climb the Fort Lincoln steps over the earthen wall
Take a look around…Boy, these soldiers’ bunks are small!
Exit through the white gate; cross the bridge; read the sign
If you head right when facing this tale, you’ll do fine
Follow the jeep trail that meanders, turns and twists
Stay the greater path or be lost and shake your fist
Find the site of the “Largest Civil War Prison”
You will find it where the wooden wall has risen
Travel east alongside the wall and “Deadline” posts
Betwixt these white markers are Confederate ghosts
Stop at the first white “Stockade” post, just past the fence
Look for the large tree around which the vines are dense
Walk eighteen paces south and search behind this tree
Under leaves and a rock you are sure to find me!

r.noonan@comcast.net
Please let us know if you enjoyed the hike and to inform us of the condition of our letterbox.