Bells at St. Clement’s Island Museum and Piney Point Lighthouse Museum will sound 21 times at 11 a.m. on November 11, 2025, joining a nationwide commemoration of the World War I Armistice and the 116,516 Americans who died in the conflict, among them 27 residents of St. Mary’s County.
The tolling marks the seventh year of Bells of Peace: A World War I Remembrance, a program started in 2018 by the World War I Centennial Commission. It coordinates with the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, the Society of the Honor Guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Participants nationwide — from places of worship and schools to town halls and cemeteries — will ring bells at the armistice hour to recall the 1918 agreement that halted fighting on the Western Front.
The two St. Mary’s County sites, managed by the county government’s Museum Division, sit along the Potomac River and tie into the region’s layers of history. St. Clement’s Island Museum overlooks the island where English colonists first landed in 1634 aboard the Ark and Dove, establishing Maryland as a haven for religious tolerance. The museum traces that voyage through exhibits on 16th- and 17th-century politics, including a mural of the arrival and displays on negotiations with the Piscataway people. A replica lighthouse from 2008 stands on the island, echoing the original Blackistone structure that guided ships until 1932. The site also features a 19th-century one-room schoolhouse and the Doris C, a dory boat from the early 1900s used by Potomac watermen for fishing and oystering.
Piney Point Lighthouse Museum, just upriver, preserves the Potomac’s oldest surviving lighthouse, a 35-foot tower built in 1836 by John Donahoo for $3,888. The structure, with walls tapering from 3 feet 10 inches thick at the base, once served vacationers from Washington, D.C., drawn to the area’s resorts. Exhibits detail lighthouse keepers’ lives and Coast Guard operations, alongside the Potomac River Maritime Exhibit with four wooden workboats: the 67-foot skipjack Joy Parks, the 84-foot bugeye Dorothy A. Parsons, a log canoe and another dory. Visitors climb the tower for views of Piney Point Creek and the river, where a boardwalk and kayak launch extend access. The site connects to military pasts through a World War II exhibit on the German U-1105 submarine, scuttled in the Potomac in 1945 and now Maryland’s first historic shipwreck preserve.
World War I, fought from July 1914 to November 1918, killed more than nine million combatants and seven million civilians worldwide. The United States entered on April 6, 1917, mobilizing 4.7 million people and deploying two million overseas. St. Mary’s County contributed through the draft and enlistments, with young men from farms near Coltons Point and fishing villages in Piney Point heading to camps like Meade in Anne Arundel County. The county’s 27 losses spanned infantry, machine gun battalions and naval service, many dying in France from wounds or action during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in late 1918.
A granite monument in Leonardtown’s square, dedicated November 11, 1921, lists those names under the Latin “Gloria Pro Patria Mori” — glory in dying for one’s country. Among the white enlistees: William J. Briscoe, a private killed September 26, 1918, in France with the 313th Regiment; and Harry W. Wilmer, a first lieutenant downed October 10, 1918, flying with the 20th Aero Squadron. The colored section includes Raymond G. Briscoe, who died October 7, 1918, at Camp Meade with the 154th Depot Brigade, and James Somerville, killed in action in France. The memorial, at Washington and Fenwick streets, reflects 1920s segregation in its layout but stands as a county tribute to shared sacrifice.
Southern Maryland’s WWI ties extend beyond personnel to wartime industry. At Mallows Bay in Charles County, the government built over 100 wooden steamships for the war effort, many scuttled post-armistice and now part of a national marine sanctuary. Local men trained at nearby bases, facing influenza outbreaks that claimed lives stateside, like Joseph X. Thompson, who died October 20, 1918, at Camp Meade. The armistice at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, ended the “war to end all wars,” though it reshaped global borders and sowed seeds for future conflicts.
St. Mary’s County has marked the date annually through Bells of Peace since at least 2019, with 2024’s tolling drawing visitors to the museums for quiet reflection amid fall foliage along the river. The 2025 event invites the public to witness the rings, echoing the program’s goal of fostering community ties to veterans’ stories. No formal program accompanies the tolling, but the sites remain open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering self-guided walks and boat access.
These museums anchor St. Mary’s County’s preservation efforts, blending colonial roots with maritime legacy. A $6.3 million expansion at St. Clement’s, with groundbreaking in August 2025 by W.M. Davis Inc. of Hollywood, will enhance exhibits on the full narrative of Maryland’s founding. Piney Point’s restoration since 1990 has safeguarded structures against erosion, ensuring the lighthouse endures as a beacon for education. Together, they draw thousands yearly, supporting the county’s tourism through events like weddings on the grounds.
The tolling aligns with Maryland’s broader remembrances, including sites like the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore, a WWI training hub. In St. Mary’s, it reinforces ties to the Potomac’s role in American defense, from Revolutionary skirmishes at Piney Point to 20th-century patrols. As the county’s population tops 115,000, such observances keep history accessible, particularly for descendants tracing roots to those 27 names etched in granite.
