Point Lookout State Park is a designated National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site. During the Civil War Era, Point Lookout was first a hospital for wounded Union soldiers and then a Civil War prison camp for captured Confederate soldiers. The hospital staff is known to have assisted with the escape of several Maryland enslaved persons while United States Colored Troops served as guards at the prison camp. Outside of Point Lookout stood a “contraband camp” where runaway slaves who crossed the Potomac River from Virginia took refuge under the protection of federal authorities.
This park’s peaceful surroundings on a peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River in St. Mary’s County belie its history as the location of a camp where as many as 52,264 Confederate soldiers were imprisoned during the Civil War. The Civil War Museum on site recounts this vivid history. The earth works of a Civil War fortification still exist on the river shore near Cornfield Harbor. The barracks and officer quarters of the Fort and a portion of the prison pen have been recreated by the Friends of Point Lookout and are the focus of Living History weekends each year.
Point Lookout sponsors historic programs and demonstrations throughout the year. Contact the park for a current schedule of historic programs and annual festivities.
Additional Information
https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/southern/PtLookout/History-PtLookout.aspx
