National Cryptologic Museum - Annapolis Junction, MD
Posted by: 
Janila
N 39° 06.901 W 076° 46.496
18S E 346548 N 4331040
Located next to the National Security Agency in Annapolis Junction, MD, not far off of the Baltimore Washington Parkway sits the National Cryptologic Museum, one of the best little museums I have ever visited.
Waymark Code: WMZEW3
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 10/31/2018
Views: 5
From the museum's website (
visit link) :
"The term "Cryptology" has both defensive and offensive aspects as it refers to the arts and sciences involved with both protecting one's information from unintended recipients, and also exploiting an adversary's information. "
As a letterboxer, many of the clues for our little hidden treasures are written in a cryptologic code. In today's world, when we run into a code, we often can turn to a website, Rumkin.com is a favorite site, and plug the clue in and the internet will do the translation for us. However, in the past, codes were created and solved manually, some of them taking years to decipher. Cryptologist William Friedman worked for the NSA (National Security Agency) and laid the groundwork for solving present day codes. This museum provides a very nice free book about Friedman's contributions and you can also enjoy the exhibit based on his findings which contain over 7,600 documents.
Some of the most famouse codes that many Americans are familiar with were created by the Native American Code Talkers during WWI and WWII. The museum contains an exhibit dedicated to the six different Native American tribes who contributed to maintaining secret communication by creating languages using their native words. From the museum's website:
"These individuals served in multiple theaters of war in both world wars. They served for love of country, adventure, economic, and other reasons. They were soldiers, marines, and sailors. They were patriots. They served as Code Talkers, saving thousands of lives by creating unique codes and baffling the enemy with secure voice communications. They served as infantryman and sailors, many earning the nation's highest award for bravery, the Medal of Honor."
For families who visit with children, there are handouts with code games and also a very neat scavenger hunt game where answers are found within the exhibits. We had a tough time believing that there was no entrance fee for a museum that contained so much information and catered to all age groups.