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DHistory
History · Drum Point

Drum Point’s post office opened in 1888

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #219 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Drum Point was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1892 on.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: SlipperyDude · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Drum Point began

When was Drum Point founded?

1888

The Drum Point post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 2,553138 years

How historic is Drum Point?

D

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Drum Point post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Drum Point’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Drum Point is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #219 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Drum Point’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±1.0) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MD town 0.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 11%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 16%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Drum Point’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Drum Point’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Drum Point are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18925 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1987. Watch Drum Point change.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Drum Point’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Drum Point’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Drum Point on the map, 1892 to 1987

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Drum Point. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Drum Point on the 1892 USGS mapDrum Point on the 1901 USGS mapDrum Point on the 1944 USGS mapDrum Point on the 1974 USGS mapDrum Point on the 1987 USGS map1892Drum Point sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Drum Point.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Drum Point had its own post office from 1888 to 1901.

Drum Point
1888–1901
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Harbor Light BeachRiver ViewRousby HallThe Sounding

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Drum Point, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Drum Point yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Drum Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in southern Calvert County, Maryland, United States, at the confluence of the Patuxent River with the Chesapeake Bay. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 2,731. Prior to 2010 it was part of the Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point CDP.

Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,731 to 2,553 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Drum Point, 1888 to 1901

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Drum Point post office opens
  3. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Drum Point post office closes
By decade

Drum Point, decade by decade

Today3 recent
2016-07-20 11 50 37 View north along Maryland State Route 760 (Rousby Hall Road) near Hance Avenue in20162016-07-20 11 50 37 View north along Maryland State R…2016-07-20 11 48 52 View north along Maryland State Route 760 (Rousby Hall Road) near Maryland Avenue in20162016-07-20 11 48 52 View north along Maryland State R…2016-07-20 11 47 41 View north from the south end of Maryland State Route 760 (Rousby Hall Road) near Maryland Avenue in20162016-07-20 11 47 41 View north from the south end of …
Famous people

Famous people close to Drum Point

Nobody well known was born in Drum Point itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Alfred GoughAmerican screenwriter and producer · b. 1967
Jerome AdamsSurgeon General of the United States from 2017 … · b. 1974
Benedict Joseph FenwickAmerican Catholic bishop · b. 1782
T.J. CarterAmerican basketball player · b. 1985
Leonard CovingtonAmerican politician · b. 1768
J
James R. LewisWriter and academic specializing in various rel… · b. 1949
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Chesapeake Ranch EstatesIts storyD−Lusby1 historic placeC+

Questions about Drum Point’s history

What year was Drum Point founded?

The Drum Point post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Drum Point rank for history?

Drum Point is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #219 of 261 in Maryland. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Drum Point?

0.0% of Drum Point’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1984.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.