The Freestone Point Hunt Club

The Freestone Point Hunt Club was established in 1926 by a group of businessmen from New York. The large waterfowl populations found along the Potomac, and the proximity of the railroad made Freestone Point both attractive and accessible to hunters from distant cities. In 1928, the Club was purchased by Gordon Wheelock and Percy Chubb and became known as the Wheelock Hunt Club., Members of the Club maintained a comfortable two-story frame lodge at Freestone Point. Waterfowl taken by the hunters were refrigerated in lead-lined ice boxes located in a shed behind the lodge. The hunters used wooden decoys and hunted from blinds along the shore, and from boats or sink boxes in the river and creeks. Hunting at the Club was good, and records indicate that 1,544 ducks and geese were taken in 1928. However, decades of uncontrolled hunting and increased pollution in the area eventually resulted in a dramatic decline in waterfowl populations. Club records clearly reflect that decline, with only 272 ducks and gees taken during the1941 season., The Club ceased to exist in 1957, when Freestone Point was purchased for the development of a waterfront resort. Gradually, the lodge fell into disrepair, and today all that remains is this chimney, located at what is now the park’s amphitheater.