Confederate POW Memorial Bricks - Point Lookout MD - Donated Engraved Bricks and Pavers on Waymarking.com

One of the largest Union POW camps was established at Point Lookout, MD on August 1, 1863. The prison stood on a stretch of sand on a peninsula where the Chesapeake Bay met the Potomac River at 5' above sea level. It was designed to hold 10,000 prisoners, but the prison population grew to 20,000 - military and civilian.

The conditions were horrendous. Prisoners were housed in tents with little protection against the extreme elements of summer heat and humidity, winter cold, and storms in which the camp was frequently flooded. Fresh water was scarce and had to be brought in by ship. Food was strictly rationed and there was never enough. Rats ran rampant and were caught and eaten by prisoners. Diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid fever, smallpox, and scurvy became epidemic. As a result, approximately 3000 prisoners died there.

In 2003, the PLPOW (Point Lookout Prisoner of War Descendants Organization) purchased 300 acres of land near the Confederate Cemetery and erected a memorial POW plaza. Bricks that are donated in memory of individual Point Lookout prisoners of war are installed in the middle of the plaza surrounding the bronze statue of a Confederate prisoner.To honor a Point Lookout POW and donate a brick, click here.

References:

• Welcome to Confederate Memorial Park, Inc.
• Point Lookout Prisoner of War Camp
• On site information

Setting of your bricks:: Park Name of Display: PL POW Memorial Approximate number of bricks in display: 100 Name on One Brick: Pvt. John Pomeroy

Visit Instructions:
Please choose a name and provide a close-up of it. Maybe it's one of your relatives or someone with the same name or just the closest one you see. Your choice.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   09/19/2015 Searcher28 visited it