Historical Markers and War Memorials in Lexington Park, Maryland
Leonardtown is the county seat for St. Mary's County
Lexington Park is in St. Mary's County
St. Mary's County(297) ► ADJACENT TO ST. MARY'S COUNTY Calvert County(153) ► Charles County(150) ► Dorchester County(148) ► Somerset County(37) ► Northumberland County, Virginia(43) ► Westmoreland County, Virginia(103) ►
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The early 20th c. is commonly referred to as "The Progressive Era." Some of the hallmarks of the era were modernization in communications and transportation and advancements in public health and safety. The expansion of the scope and powers of . . . — — Map (db m181742) HM
Both a squadron of the British navy and severe weather challenged the famed Chesapeake Flotilla off Cedar Point on June 1, 1814. The modest fleet of armed barges was assembled by Joshua Barney to harass British ships. With an inadequate professional . . . — — Map (db m62589) HM
The First Solid-State Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile was developed by the Navy's Pacific Missile Test Center at China Lake, California, in the early 1950s. It was the first missile to be guided by tracking the heat . . . — — Map (db m138641) HM
The U.S. Navy developed Lexington Park to house the civilian workers who streamed into the area following the establishment of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Named for the storied carrier Lexington, it was the first planned community . . . — — Map (db m56719) HM
Training Naval Aviators for Over Four Decades Loosely based on the popular civil Beech Bonanza aircraft, the T-34 began replacing the Navy's original T-6 Texan (also known as the SNJ) in 1954. In 2000, T34Cs began being replaced by the T-6A . . . — — Map (db m138623) HM
The "Huey" After winning the U.S. Army's 1952 competition for a light utility helicopter, the H-1 "Huey" became the West's most popular, most versatile, and longest-lived military helicopter. In 1962, the U.S. Marine Corps selected the . . . — — Map (db m138660) HM
Display Aircraft: MV-22B, Bureau Number 164940, is one of four Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) test aircraft and the 8th Osprey built. Manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Arlington, Texas. Its first flight was on 23 . . . — — Map (db m138668) HM
The "Battle Phrog" The Sea Knight was developed as an assault helicopter for the U.S. Marine Corps. It featured tandem rotors (one in front, one in back) that folded for shipboard stowage. Although other helicopters with tandem rotors preceded . . . — — Map (db m138659) HM
Almost the Joint Strike Fighter In 1996 the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program awarded $750 million contracts to both Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Each contractor was to design and build two JSF demonstrators to compare different propulsion . . . — — Map (db m138656) HM
Panel 1: Chronology
The Cedar Point Lighthouse marked the southern point of the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent River during the years from its completion in 1896 until it was abandoned by the Coast Guard in 1928. This . . . — — Map (db m62467) HM
A Chesapeake Landmark Erected in 1896, the Cedar Point Lighthouse marked the southern point of where the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay come together. The lighthouse was a three-story brick and frame structure, with its cupola mounted 50 . . . — — Map (db m138622) HM
The Civil War left St. Mary's County with traditional economic and social structures in ruins. For over 150 year Southern Maryland plantation owners had depended on slave labor, and their sympathies were with the Confederacy. Some had crossed . . . — — Map (db m181741) HM
The First Carrier-Based Interceptor One of the most important of the early Navy jets, the F-6A (designated F4D—or "Ford"—before 1962) exploited advanced engine and all-weather radar technologies to prove that carrier-based aircraft . . . — — Map (db m138631) HM
More Than An Attack Aircraft Affectionately known as the "Scooter," the A-4 satisfied the Navy's need for a low-complexity successor to the equality unsophisticated, propeller-driven A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft. Over 3000 A-4s were operated . . . — — Map (db m138632) HM
The Intruder is a medium-attack, all weather day-night carrier-based combat aircraft. Its first flight (prototype YA-2F1 BuNo 147864) was on 16 April 1960. The Navy’s designation of the Intruder was changed from the A-2F to the A-6A in October 1962. . . . — — Map (db m94285) HM
All-Weather Attack, Day or Night Grumman's A-6 Intruder was designed around a powerful air-to-surface radar. The final version, the A-6E, also featured an infrared/laser multi-sensor. In adverse conditions, these radar and optical systems . . . — — Map (db m138665) HM
Eye in the Sky Housing a powerful search radar antenna, the E-2's 24-foot diameter rotating dome is unmistakable. The first aircraft designated for Airborne Early Warning, the E-2 conducts air, sea, and land surveillance. It can control . . . — — Map (db m138661) HM
A Capable Cat The F9F was unquestionably the most successful of the Navy's early jets. From the subsonic, straight-winged Panther of the Korean War, the F9F series evolved into supersonic swept-wing F9F-6 and F9F-8 Cougars. F9F-8Bs . . . — — Map (db m138634) HM
The Ultimate Cat The Tomcat was designed with "variable geometry" wings that extended straight out from the fuselage for takeoffs and landings, but swept back at a 68°-degree angle for high-speed flight. Originally a fighter/interceptor for . . . — — Map (db m138644) HM
A New Approach to Anti-Submarine Warfare Nicknamed "Stoof" (a rough pronunciation of its designation), the S2F (later re-designated S-2), was the first carrier-based aircraft able to both search for an attack submarines. Previously, the two . . . — — Map (db m138646) HM
A Swiss Army Knife with Rotors Originally designed as a single-engine utility helicopter, the Seasprite quickly became a twin-engine aircraft with multiple versions and missions. The HH-2C, with armor and guns was used for combat search and . . . — — Map (db m138658) HM
The U.S. Navy developed Lexington Park to house white civilian workers who streamed into the area following the establishment of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Named for the storied aircraft carrier, USS Lexington, this was the . . . — — Map (db m181773) HM
The Last of the Breed Successor to the propeller-driven S-2 Tracker (also here on PRNAM's flight line), the S-3 gave its crews a well-integrated suite of ASW (anti-submarine warfare) and anti-ship systems with more warfighting capability and . . . — — Map (db m138657) HM
No Slack in Light Attack A derivative of the F-8 fighter, the Ling Temco Vought (LTV) A-7 Corsair II came into prominence during the Vietnam War, where it served as a close air support and attack aircraft. The first aircraft with a cockpit . . . — — Map (db m138637) HM
The First of Its Kind The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing AV-8B Harrier II evolved from the British Hakwer Siddeley Type Number P.1127 (1957). Together, the United Kingdom, United States and Germany funded the evaluation of nine development aircraft, . . . — — Map (db m138669) HM
A True Multi-Role Fighter In 1975 the U.S. Navy / Marine Corps competitively chose the F/A-18 Hornet to replace the F-4 Phantom II, A-4 Skyhawk, and A-7 Corsair II fighter and attack aircraft. The Hornet was seen as an affordable, single-seat . . . — — Map (db m138663) HM
The First Modern Strike Fighter As the direct descendent of the disappointing F3H Demon, the F-4's success was anything but assured. But, with over 5000 F-4s of various versions ultimately delivered to the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air . . . — — Map (db m138640) HM
During the Civil War, more than 700 African American men from St. Mary's County served as soldiers and sailors in the U.S. Army and Navy. Some enlisted to obtain their freedom; some were already free and joined from a sense of duty. Black men . . . — — Map (db m181789) HM
A Low-Level "Dumb" Bomb The Mark-80 series of unguided general-purpose bombs was first used in the Vietnam War. The Mk-80 series' 500-lb variant is the Mk-82. Like all Mk-80 series bombs, the Mk-82 cannot be safely employed at low altitudes in . . . — — Map (db m138642) HM
In 1942, during the height of World War II, the Department of Defense acquired land in St. Mary's County near the confluence of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, a facility that would play a crucial role in testing airplanes used on U.S. . . . — — Map (db m181777) HM
Powering Naval Aircraft Mobile electric power plants (MEPPs) are used on the flight decks of aircraft carriers and on shore facilities. MEPPs supply regulated electrical power for aircraft servicing, starting, maintenance, and testing. The . . . — — Map (db m138627) HM
Very Fast, Very Heavy Reconnaissance The RA-5C began as the A3J Vigilante (redesignated A-5 in 1962), a carrier-based bomber designed to deliver a nuclear weapon and travel at twice the speed of sound. Two years after Vigilantes were fielded, . . . — — Map (db m138664) HM
Training Jet Jocks For over four decades, aspiring Navy and Marine Corps pilots learned the art of operating jets from aircraft carriers in a T-2 Buckeye. Unglamorous and unsophisticated, the T-2 was designed for only one vitally important . . . — — Map (db m138625) HM
Naval Flight Officer Training The civilian Sabreliner is a late-1950s-era business jet with wings based on those of the F-86 Sabre jet liner. In the early 1960s, the U.S. Navy converted a number of Sabreliners into T-39 aircraft for the purpose . . . — — Map (db m138645) HM
Electronic Warfare First fielded in 1971, the EA-6B Prowler was derived from Grumman's A-6 Intruder attack aircraft. The long-range, all-weather EA-6B was flown by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps squadrons, but never sold to foreign nations. . . . — — Map (db m138666) HM
This Museum is the vision of a group of Navy and civilian personnel who in 1974 set out to formally organize a museum to preserve and celebrate the history of the Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River.
They received support from the . . . — — Map (db m154154) HM
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 38th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At New Market Heights, VA., 29 September 1864. Birth: St. Mary's County, MD. Date of issue: 6 April 1865 . . . — — Map (db m181683) HM WM
Making Naval Aviators After completing ground school, the two-seat T-6 Texan II is the first aircraft an aspiring Naval Aviator will fly. Derived from the commercial Pilatus PC-9 aircraft, the T-6A won the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System . . . — — Map (db m138624) HM
1637 Jesuit Mission of Father Andrew White was located a mile from here on Patuxent River, on land given by Mattapanient Indian Chief Macquacomen. The first St. Nicholas Church was built at this site in 1796 by Jesuit Father James Walton. Present . . . — — Map (db m999) HM
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 38th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At New Market Heights, VA., 29 September 1864. Birth: St. Mary's County, MD. Date of issue: 18 February 1874. . . . — — Map (db m181685) HM WM
The CH-53A, the predecessor of America’s largest helicopter today, the CH-53E, was first flown in October 1964 and began entering service in 1966. Within 16,000 lb of cargo capacity, this large all-weather-capable helicopter could carry two jeeps, . . . — — Map (db m94287) HM
Heavy Lifting Sikorsky's CH-53 series started big and just kept growing. The first major leap came with the CH-53E Super Stallion, which added a third engine (the first generation CH-53A before you has two) and considerably more lift . . . — — Map (db m138667) HM
In 1942, the Department of Defense acquired land in St. Mary’s County and began construction of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, a facility that would play a crucial role in testing airplanes used on World War II aircraft carriers. The . . . — — Map (db m56863) HM
Moving Naval Aircraft Powered by a Ford 302 V-8 gasoline engine, the United Tractor TA-75A was designed to tow aircraft weighing up to 75,000 pounds. The rear deck could mount a gas turbine for starting jet aircraft engines. TA-75As were used . . . — — Map (db m138630) HM
The Monument, a project of Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions of St. Mary's County, was dedicated On July 29, 2000, Its purpose is to serve as an external reminder of the contributions of African Americans to the growth and . . . — — Map (db m128945) HM
The F9F-8B “Cougar” that you see here was graciously donated and transported to this museum by the city of Richmond, Virginia. It had been displayed at their visitors center for many years and had fallen into disrepair. As noted, . . . — — Map (db m128946) HM
African Americans continued to migrate to Washington DC, Baltimore, and other urban centers during the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s. However, those who stayed behind working the farms, waterways, and serving as domestics may have . . . — — Map (db m181768) HM
In the decade following World War I, citizens of a St. Mary's County still racially and economically divided focused their energies on providing for their families and educating their children toward a promising future.
Economics: . . . — — Map (db m181764) HM
African Americans have served in every war since the American Revolution. During the Civil War, more that 180,000 African Americans comprising 170 units served in the Union Army and 29,511 served in the Union Navy. Nearly 700 United States Colored . . . — — Map (db m56476) HM
This monument is dedicated in grateful tribute to the United States Colored Troops of St. Mary's County. It honors Medal of Honor recipients, all Union soldiers and sailors from St. Mary's County who served during the Civil War (1861-1865). . . . — — Map (db m181679) WM
This tribute to the unique contributions of African Americans in St. Mary's County spans the following areas: religion, farming, trades, domestic service, education, business, industry, community service, arts entertainment, health, sports, . . . — — Map (db m62448) HM
