Museums

Exhibit room with artwork on the walls and on pedestals

Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center

13470 Dowell Road, P.O. Box 99, Dowell, MD 20629
Phone: 410-326-4640 Email Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center

Located just outside Solomons, Annmarie Garden features a walking path meandering through woods past works on loan from the Smithsonian Institution along with other artful surprises, a children’s natural play space and native gardens. The center hosts exhibits, a unique gift shop, Nature Nook and the artLAB, a creative re-use space. All ages will enjoy events and festivals, hands-on activities, public art programs and a beautiful setting. Pet friendly (leashed) excluding special events.
Annmarie Sculpture Garden Website

Exhibit room at Bayside History Museum with mannequins exploring nature scenes

Bayside History Museum

4025 4th St., P.O. Box 348, North Beach, MD 20714
Phone: 410-610-5970  Email Bayside History Museum

Cultural history museum featuring exhibitions like Day at the Beach, Amusement Park at Chesapeake Beach, Camp Roosevelt (Maryland’s first permanent Boy Scout camp) and The Cottage. Visitors will also find information about Captain John Smith, Twin Beaches history and numerous seasonal exhibits.    
Bayside History Museum Website

Sign that says Calvert County Historical Society in front of an old white house with pillars

Calvert County Historical Society

70 Church St., P.O. Box 358, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Phone: 410-535-2452  Email Calvert County Historical Society

Located in historic Linden (c.1868), the society offers a research library, family papers describing first-person accounts of historical events, wills, family Bibles, original manuscripts, photographs, published histories, maps and recorded interviews. 
Calvert County Historical Society Website

Children looking at otters at the Calvert Marine Museum

Calvert Marine Museum

14200 Solomons Island Road, Solomons, MD 20688
Phone: 410-326-2042

Rich maritime history, local fossils and aquariums of life in the Chesapeake Bay come alive in the only museum on the East Coast that is home to two lighthouses. See skates and rays, hand-crafted model boats, marine engines, wood carvings, aquariums, fossils and Chesapeake work boats. Outdoor exhibits include a boat basin, river otter habitat and a salt marsh.        
Calvert Marine Museum Website

Exhibit at the Railway Museum with a kangaroo from the carousel, cardboard cutouts and signage

Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum

4155 Mears Avenue, Chesapeake Beach, MD 20732
Phone: 410-257-3892  Email Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum

The museum, the only surviving train depot building from the Chesapeake Beach Railway, shares the story of the Chesapeake Beach Railway and Amusement Park in the early 20th century. The railway was a direct route from Washington, D.C. to Chesapeake Beach and included steamship arrivals from Baltimore establishing the area as the new "Monte Carlo" of the east. Free admission.          
Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum Website

Large buoy outside of Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Visitor Center

Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Visitor Center

200 Farren Ave., P.O. Box 38, Solomons, MD 20688
Phone: 410-326-7443

As part of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Visitor Center offers guests the chance to explore exhibits highlighting the health of the Chesapeake Bay, exciting research being pioneered by CBL scientists, and an oyster reef community aquarium.
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Visitor Center Website
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory – Free Public Seminars

Cove Point Lighthouse at sunset overlooking the water

Cove Point Lighthouse

3500 Lighthouse Blvd., Lusby, MD 20657

Experience history at Maryland's oldest continuously working lighthouse. Grounds include the lighthouse tower built in 1828, a 1901 fog signal building and visitor center. The six-bedroom keeper’s home is available as a high-end vacation rental and special events venue. The grounds are open during specific hours and are free to tour. A museum interpreter is on site. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Limited wheelchair access.            
Cove Point Lighthouse Website

Drum Point Lighthouse and a boat on the water

Drum Point Lighthouse

14200 Solomons Island Road, Solomons, MD 20688
Phone: 410-326-2042

Constructed in 1883 at Drum Point to mark the entrance to the Patuxent River, this screwpile cottage-type light is one of only three remaining from 45 that once served the Chesapeake Bay at the beginning of the 20th century. Decommissioned in 1962, the lighthouse has been beautifully restored, complete with furnishings of the early 20th century. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Included in admission to the Calvert Marine Museum
Drum Point Lighthouse Website

Exhibit at Lore Oyster House with an old wheel barrow and image of two men processing oysters

J.C. Lore & Sons Oyster House

14200 Solomons Island Road, Solomons, MD 20688

Visit this restored 1934 seafood packing house to learn about the boom and decline of the region’s commercial seafood industries. The exhibits explore all aspects of oyster processing, from receiving oysters at the dock to storing, shucking, washing, packing and shipping the product to markets across the region. The oyster house is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Open free, May through September. Check museum website for schedule. 
J.C. Lore & Sons Oyster House Website

Aerial view of the exhibit in the museum, including FAQ signs and old artifacts

Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum

10515 Mackall Road, St. Leonard, MD 20685
Phone: 410-586-8538 Email Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum

Nearly 70 archaeological sites on the property reflect more than 8,000 years of human occupation. Included are a visitor center, exhibit barn, gift shop, hiking trails, a re-created Indian Village and canoe/kayak launch. Also on the grounds is the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory. Call about scheduling a tour of the facility. 
Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum Website

Inside of the Old Wallville School with desks, a furnace and an informational sign

Old Wallville School

1450 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Phone: 410-474-3868

The facility is the oldest standing one-room schoolhouse for African American students in Calvert County and offered education for grades one through seven in the Wallville community. Faced with a student body averaging between 35 and 45 students, the teacher often placed three small children at each desk and assigned others to sit in the aisles. The schoolhouse was built by the early 1880s (with some evidence suggesting an early date of 1869) and remained in use until 1934. 
Old Wallville School Website

Inside of the One Room Schoolhouse with desks, a furnace and chalkboards

One-Room Schoolhouse

3080 Broomes Island Road, Port Republic, MD 20676

Port Republic School No. 7 has been in this shady grove for more than 100 years and is filled with authentic memorabilia. Open by appointment only.
One-Room Schoolhouse Website