Lure of the Chesapeake

Canvasback ducks float quietly on the water

The hunter waits

Flocks of ducks appear in the sky, cup their wings and drop down to the waiting canvasbacks

The hunter's ploy has worked

For it was not real canvasbacks that lured the ducks but ...

Map of Lower Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay

Piney Point Lighthouse, Museum and Historic Park, a Chesapeake Bay Gateway, is one of your entry points to enjoy and learn about the places and stories of the Chesapeake and its watershed.

The 64,000 square-mile watershed is a complete ecosystem. Home ...

Joshua Barney's Barge and the Chesapeake Flotilla

Joshua Barney's Barge is a 4/5 scale, authentic working replica of an American warship of the Chesapeake Flotilla from the War of 1812. This barge was built as a project of the Prince George's County tricentennial in 1996 by The ...

Chesapeake and Ohio Aqueduct

Across the Monocacy River

Largest of eleven C&O aqueducts. Finished 1833, Alfred Cruger, Principal Engineer. Constructed of quartzite from Sugarloaf Mountain. It served until 1924, when after a flood, commercial operations ceased. Administered by the National Park Service.

Marker is at the ...

The Chesapeake Bay : History Happened Here

Ironclad Revolution

In 1861, the Confederate navy converted the hulk of U.S.S. Merrimack into an ironclad, CSS Virginia. On March 8, 1861, the Virginia sank one Union warship and drove another aground in flames before the north's ironclad, U.S.S. Monitor, crossed ...

The Chesapeake Bay : History Happened Here

Shields of the Republic

In World War II more than 700,000 American men and women went to the conflict through the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation. Over 900,000 more arrived, including the wounded, survivors of sea battles and prisoners of war. ...

The Chesapeake Bay : History Happened Here

Your Navy at Work

Every type of Navy ship operates on the Chesapeake Bay en route to or from the great naval installations of Hampton Roads. There are easy ways to identify them, starting with color. Most navies in the world ...

The Chesapeake Bay : History Happened Here

The Navy Sees the World

On the morning of December 16, 1907, President Teddy Roosevelt sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world to demonstrate American technology and resolve. Sixteen battleships passed by this point en route to Trinidad and points ...

The Chesapeake Bay : History Happened Here

Shields of the Republic

In World War II more than 700,000 American men and women went to the conflict through the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation. Over 900,000 more arrived, including the wounded, survivors of sea battles and prisoners of war. ...

Chesapeake Bay Skipjack Fleet

North America’s last sail-powered commercial vessels, skipjacks were developed nthe Chesapeake Bay Region around 1890 to dredge oysters from the bottom of the bay. A boom in the oyster industry began after the Civil War, as innovations in packing and ...