Calvert Marine Museum
The Calvert Marine Museum is in Solomons, MD which is just across the Patuxent River. The museum displays natural history and maritime heritage to tell the story of the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland.
There are numerous displays about all aspects of life on and around the water from fossils to marine animals to boat building to commercial fishing to recreation activities....this area's history is deeply connected and intertwined with the water. They have an impressive collection of recreational outboard boat motors.
I also took a tour of the Drum Point Lighthouse which is part of the museum. The lighthouse, which was originally constructed at Drum Point, was moved (intact as one piece) to the museum in 1975 after having sat abandoned for 13 years. The lighthouse is a screwpile, cottage-type light is only one of three remaining that once served the Chesapeake Bay at the beginning of the twentieth century. The lighthouse has been completely restored, complete with furnishings of the early twentieth century and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Cottage-type lighthouses contained living quarters (for the lighthouse keeper and family) as part of the structure.
The inside of the lighthouse actually had a fair amount of space. Other than the narrow spiral staircase, it did not feel cramped at all. They had two bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room, living room, lots of storage spaces, and an outhouse. They also collected rainwater from the roof in four 200 gallon tanks. Two children were born in the lighthouse and two other children died in the lighthouse, and thus it is reportedly haunted.
The museum also has a very large collection of old, historical fishing boats of all types. These things were very old but remarkable in the story that they tell of the types of fishing and other commercial enterprises that the people engaged in along the Chesapeake Bay.
