The Calvert Marine Museum is a museum of regional and natural history, biology, paleontology, and maritime history. The museum tells the story of the Chesapeake Bay, the wildlife found in and around it, and also the people who lived off of the Bay over the last few hundred years.
They have a wide variety of live animals to observe including skates and rays, turtles, seahorses, many types of fish and even sea otters! The Calvert Marine Museum also has a Megalodon exhibit which displays a model of an ancient creature related to the modern day Great White Shark. They also find real Megalodon teeth along the beach!
There are over 400 active volunteers who work in every facet of the museum, including feeding the fish, helping to hunt for and prepare fossils, building boats and sailing boats for the visitors of the museum.
One of the most exciting times in Calvert County is the Maritime Festival where Southern Maryland’s traditions, music, food, crafts and boat building are appreciated to the full. Come to the Maritime Festival and learn about the history of the area and also enjoy free boat rides!
There are multiple lighthouse exhibits overseen by the museum. The Drum Point Lighthouse is one of the best preserved lighthouses in the mid-atlantic region. Thousands of people visit this lighthouse every year. Also, Cove Point is home to a working lighthouse that is positioned right on the Chesapeake Bay. Lore Oyster House is open for exploration as well. This Oyster house employed up to 100 oyster shuckers in a good season and gives you a glimpse into maritime life 75 years ago.
Come take a ride on the William B. Tennison oyster boat built in 1899. When it was built, it had a lifespan of about 25 years, but it still lives on into the 21st century, earning her keep.
There are hundreds of historical artifacts on display. They acquire these objects by collecting them with a fishing boat, or on the beach excavating fossils out of the cliffs, and they have been found in barns. The team catalogs the artifacts, researches them and restores them. Then they gather together to brainstorm how to present it in the most meaningful, educational and entertaining way.
At the Boat camp, the Patuxent Small Craft Guild helps middle school children build a canoe in a week. The group is made up of all volunteers, mainly from Calvert County, who design the boat, pre-cut the pieces and help the kids put the boat together. Then on Saturday they race the canoes!
There are two different formal programs for school groups, either museum based or field based. Groups of children go around the museum getting in-depth understanding of all the exhibits. In their field based programs, they take children out on their skipjack boat, the “Dee of St. Mary’s”, for day sails. They also take the children to the beach for fossil hunting, and they learn all about being a paleontologist.
The Calvert Marine Museum does a fantastic job of telling the accumulated story of hundreds of watermen, farmers and other Southern Marylanders. They interpret the maritime history of Calvert County and tell the history quite well. Come for a visit and appreciate the Chesapeake Bay for yourself!
Calvert County Tree Service services St. Mary’s County, Charles County and Calvert County – including these towns:
- Dunkirk, MD
- Chesapeake Beach, MD
- Huntingtown, MD
- Prince Fredrick, MD
- St. Leonard, MD
- Lusby, MD
- Solomons, MD
- Owings, MD
- Long Beach, MD
- North Beach, MD
- Drum Point, MD
- Calvert Beach, MD
- Broomes Island, MD