The Department of Recreation & Parks’ Museum Division will celebrate some of St. Mary’s County’s most significant lighthouses during National Lighthouse Weekend Saturday, Aug. 6 and Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022, at Piney Point Lighthouse in Piney Point, and Blackistone Lighthouse on St. Clement’s Island, near Colton’s Point.
Tours will be available at both locations during the entire weekend.
At Colton’s Point, check out the St. Clement’s Island Museum before taking a boat ride out to St. Clement’s Island.
Visitors can experience a free tour of Blackistone Lighthouse from the St. Clement’s Hundred Blackistone Lighthouse volunteers. The lighthouse is a replica of the original lighthouse that stood near the same location on the island.
Admission rates at St. Clement’s Island Museum are $3.00 for adults, $1.50 for children (6-18), and $2.00 for seniors and military, five and under are free. The St. Clement’s Island Water Taxi is $7.00 per person (all ages) for a boat ride, which includes museum admission.
At Piney Point, visitors can celebrate the oldest lighthouse on the Potomac with tours of the Piney Point lighthouse tower, Keeper’s Quarters, and Potomac River Maritime Exhibit featuring full-sized workboats, two floors of brand-new exhibits in the main museum building, and the museum grounds.
While admission and tours are offered free of charge this weekend, donations are greatly appreciated to support the museum. Both museums will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The Museum Store at both locations will also be open during operating hours.
National Lighthouse Day, as designated by Congress Aug. 7, 1989, is the anniversary of the signing of the Aug. 7, 1789, Congressional Act “for the establishment and support of lighthouses, beacons, buoys and public piers” and the date of the first commissioned Federal lighthouse.
