Piney Point Lighthouse museum in midst of long-term renovation

Friday, July 4, 2008

That pier will also have a floating, step-down platform for kayak and canoe launching into Piney Point Creek, which leads into the Potomac River. ‘‘We’re really pleased because we have several other grants pending to work on the grounds at Piney Point,” said Debra Pence, museum manager for the St. Mary’s County Department of Recreation and Parks.

The pier on the creek side of the property was used by the Navy and Coast Guard, said Phil Rollins, director of recreation and parks. During World War II, the Navy had a torpedo testing facility there and when they left, the Coast Guard took over the lighthouse.

The lighthouse, museum and grounds took a beating from Hurricane Isabel in September 2003 and since then the county has been working on a 10-year plan to revitalize the facility.

The museum itself was moved from the lighthouse keeper’s quarters to an office building formerly used by Steuart Petroleum. The downstairs was renovated and houses the gift shop and displays. The second floor still needs to be renovated and will eventually have rotating displays, Pence said. Next door, the boat display building has been completed.

The Piney Point Lighthouse was the first one built on the Potomac River in 1836, according to the Maryland Historical Trust, and is one of only four left on the river.

Visitation at the lighthouse declined after Isabel but since last year, the museum has been staffed seven days a week and attendance has spiked back up. ‘‘The whole project reflects income from county, state, federal and private sources,” Pence said. An antiquated metal seawall on the creek side of the property is also being replaced this year. ‘‘That goes back to the Navy in World War II or the Coast Guard,” Rollins said. ‘‘It is old. It’s not doing the job anymore.”

The property for the lighthouse was surveyed on July 11, 1835 and it was built the next year. The lighthouse keeper’s quarters had a second story added in 1884. The fog bell tower was destroyed by Hurricane Hazel in October 1954 and the lighthouse’s use as a navigational aid was discontinued in 1964. County government took over the property May 22, 1980.