Memories of Douglas Point

Memories of Douglas Point. A lifelong resident recalls the history of this area from the Civil War to ghost stories.. , Farming and Fishing , Calvert Posey was born in this area in 1924 and has lived here his entire life. Growing up here and trained as a biologist, Posey understands both the history and ecology of the region., According to stories told by Mr. Posey, this was an elite area before the Civil War, but the people were driven out and houses were torn door for firewood. By the time Calvert was a child, only a few people lived here, farming and fishing. The fields near the river, such as those that were once here, had been abandoned, and trees were reclaiming the open fields., Poor people and freed slaves lived further inland. Farmers continued to grow tobacco, corn, wheat, and raise cattle. A fishing wharf was located by the river. Firewood was stored in a wood bank before it was sent to the cities., Fishers told ghost stories of a sunken Spanish galleon. They also told of Ida Chiles, the daughter of Reverend Chiles who died of diptheria at age 5. She is buried in the Chiles cemetery, in these woods. People claimed to hear her ghost gasping and crying at night., A Period of Change , In the 1930s, gravel harvesting in the river drove many fish away. in the 1960s, after two droughts, some people abandoned their farms and left the area., New people arrived. They worked not here but at the Indian Head weapons facility. They were part of the community, but over time, the population grew until people didn't know all their neighbors., In the 1970s, Potomac Electric Power Company planned a nuclear power plant. The plans were abandoned, but 30 years later, a company wanted to mine for gravel. New and old residents worked together to keep the mining company out., Protected Land , The community recognized that development repeatedly threatened the natural and cultural resources here. They worked with Charles County, the Department of Resources and the Bureau of Land Management to acquire this land. These signs are port of the collaborative work of many people and agencies to manage and interpret the distinctive history and ecology of Douglas Point., (Image of Calvert Posey.) , (Image of a pipe.) , A pipe poking out of the ground marks the place of a nuclear power plant that was never built. , (Image of shoreline.) , Before a nuclear power plant could be built here, meteorological towers measured the wind of the area. One tower still rises up from the forest. The bottom of another tower stands by the old wharf on the river. , (Icon in the upper-left corner for the Chiles Homesite.)V (Icon in the lower-right corner for the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management.)