Its Register listings are the Piney Point Coast Guard Light Station and the U-1105 BLACK Panther (Type VIIC German Submarine). Below: maps from 1892 on.
The Piney Point post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Tolson (1910), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 980171 years
How historic is Piney Point?
B−
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Piney Point post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Piney Point’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Piney Point is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Piney Point’s overall grade.
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 Piney Point’s 15.7 sits above most of its state (72% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.4 points). 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 Piney Point’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The scenic environment of Piney Point continues to be the summer getaway of many Washington D.C. notables. Named after the long-leaf yellow and loblolly pines lining the shores of the Potomac River, the Point provided a nature retreat for Presidents James Monroe, Franklin Pierce and Teddy Roosevelt. A number of other Capital figures such as Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster were frequent visitors to the Piney Point Hotel, which was shut down after a hurricane in 1933.
The Piney Point post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Piney Point rank for history?
Piney Point is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. 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.
What is on the National Register in Piney Point?
Two places: the Piney Point Coast Guard Light Station (listed 1976) and the U-1105 BLACK Panther (Type VIIC German Submarine) (2001).
How old are the homes in Piney Point?
13% of Piney Point’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.4 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1990.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
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