Community: Calvert Marine Museum (CMM) Solomons, Maryland United States of America

Extinct Monster

Before you plan your visit to Calvert Marine Museum, you should learn some of the most important facts about its history, what it offers and if it is worth for you to pay $9.00 to $11.00 entrance fee plus half to three quarters of your day. Buckle up, you will find everything you need to know about Calvert Marine Museum. In addition, you will be provided with a cost estimate as to how much you should pay for entrance and lastly should you buy anything from the gift shop?

Founded in 1970, Calvert Marine Museum is a unique museum on the East Coast with two lighthouses and two iconic Chesapeake work boats that can take visitors out on the water. The museum provides a prehistoric past, maritime heritage and natural environments to tell a unique story of the Chesapeake Bay. It has skates, rays, river otters and fish in the aquariums, and the largest collection of Miocene fossils which are rarely found outside of Smithsonian. The Calvert Marine Museum is located at the confluence of the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, MD. Its unique location allows the site to be a focal point for many visitors passing through the region. The museum itself details the maritime and ecological history of Southern Maryland through exhibits, educational programs, boat trips and a guided lighthouse tour of two lighthouses.The museum is in Solomons, MD which provides local waterfront access through a walk-able pier with scenic views. Nearby restaurants and shops are within walking distance as well.

Marine life in Calvert Museum

Originally when the museum was established it was built over a land owned by a man named John Bluster. Not much is known about John Bluster. This was a temporary facility. In 1973 the museum moved into the vacant Solomons Elementary School for permanent services. In 1975, the museum moved to the current location, 14200 Solomons Island Road, Solomons, MD 20688, and has been operating there since. The Museum also had a name change in 1975 in which the name changed from Calvert Maritime Museum to Calvert Marine Museum. In 1981, Calvert Marine Museum was accredited by American Association of Museum, an honor only awarded to a little more than 300 museums in the United States.  

Following individuals initiated in the establishment of this museum: 

• Daniel Barrett Jr., 
• William Dovel, 
• Alton Kersey, 
• Joseph C. Lore Jr.,
• LeRoy "Pepper" Langley. 

They have been permanently recognized on a plaque located at the front entrance of the museum. Some of these founders are still alive. Today the museum is governed by a board.

Calvert Marine Museum (1975)

Dominantly Anglo-Saxon board is consisted of 18 board members; seven females (one black, one Asian and one race unknown) and 11 males (one black and one race unknown) that govern this museum.  Its mission is stated below:

The Calvert Marine Museum is a public, non-profit, educational, regionally oriented museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, research, and interpretation of the culture and natural history of Southern Maryland. We are dedicated to the presentation of our three themes: regional paleontology, estuarine life of the tidal Patuxent River and adjacent Chesapeake Bay, and maritime history of these waters. The museum is part of Calvert County Government.

Calvert Marine Museum has been expanding constantly since its establishment in 1970.  The Calvert Marine Museum Society was formed in 1984 as a non-profit membership organization to support the museum through donations, fundraising and events. The Society has nearly 3,000 members throughout the country. Society staff members operate the Museum Store, write grants, handle membership, and manage fundraising events such as the Waterside Music Series. The members of the Board of Governors also serve as the Board of Directors for the Society. The membership fees change based on certain criteria such as individual, family, etc.

The museum has a lot to offer to the children and grown ups a like but particularly it is very educational and hands on experience for children. It is a small museum thus it is not recommended to travel across the country to visit this museum however, if you happened to be in the area and wonder what you should do this museum is a place to be. 

There is a fee for entrance and this fee includes the museum, the tours of the lighthouses but not the boat tour. We will go over the lighthouses and boat tours in a separate post. How much is it and how much should it be? For the greater good of the community, the fee system should be reformed based on the societal contribution of the visitors. Adult Calvert County residents who pay taxes to support the county must not pay fees to enter in this museum. They are already contributing to the county with their taxes. As long as adult Calvert County residents can provide a valid drivers' license with a valid address in Calvert County, and a social security number or a tax ID they should be able to enter the museum free of charge. As a nation we should also support our children in their cultural and historical development thus children 15 and younger should enter and explore the museum free of charge. As long as they can provide a school enrollment in a public school from any of the 50 states of the United States of America. American tribe members with a proof of tribal association along with black Americans who are descendants of slaves should also enter the museum free of charge. Out of county adult residents who are Maryland taxpayers/residents should have the lowest possible entrance fee (possibly $3.00) and rest of the adults taxpayers/residents from other 49 states should have the second lowest fee (possibly $5.00) and the foreign residents/tourists with a valid passport should pay $9.00. Anyone who doesn't have any of the documents should pay $11.00 entrance fee.  Donations and memberships should be promoted and encouraged to support the museum. As a nation we do need more museums like this for raising healthy young generations for future.  This fee system ensures the Calvert County community is supported properly and justly. 

Unfortunately, the museum has a standard fee system changing between $9.00 to $11.00, which doesn't make much distinction between the contribution of the residents vs. the other visitors. The fees are available on Calvert Marine Museum website.

I highly recommend for people to visit Calvert Marine Museum. I visited in 2021 with my children and found it very educational and cultural.  There is a nice gift shop in the entrance of the museum filled with different interesting things. My daughter asked for a stuffed narwhal and she still loves it. It still looks brand new and it was $9.99 thus I have no objection to shopping in the gift shop because the prices seemed reasonable to me at the time.The workers in the gift shop as well as the register were friendly and welcoming.  Lastly, Calvert Marine Museum has a nice stage for concerts. I am interested to hear your experience as well as what you think of my reformed fee proposals. Please comment below and let me know your thoughts. 

(1970, October 18) Calvert Marine Museum https://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/