In 1921, the United States Navy sent the first torpedo testing barge from Alexandria, Virginia to Piney Point where a 33-year testing facility would be established. Later, with the onset of WW II in 1941, the torpedo testing became a 24-hour operation. Needing a safe harbor to moor the torpedo retrieval boats, the Navy leased, with the option to buy, the present museum property on Piney Point Creek, from Warren Tolson, owner of the nearby Piney Point Hotel. After purchasing the property, the Navy built a machine shop, landing pier, mooring pilings, and boat railway to pull their boats out of the water for repairs.
After constantly fighting northwest winds and dredging the mouth of the creek open three times, the Navy moved their operations one mile to the present day site of the Paul Hall Center, where they remained until 1954. In 1960, the Navy Machine Shop and property were purchased by the already present Steuart Petroleum Company. This property was used by their transportation division of tug boats and barges moving petroleum product to their facility in Washington, D.C. The Steuart Company left the workshop in 1998, the St. Mary's County government purchased the property and buildings in 2002 for future development of the Piney Point Lighthouse, Museum and Historic Park.
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