Preservation of historical sites

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If you are familiar with the Point Lookout Prison Camp run by the Union in Southern Maryland, you probably know that most of the remains of it are under many feet of water. It was on a peninsula where the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay come together, and time and tide did their work. It has been an on-going project of underwater archaeology for years.

Surratt House is owned and maintained by a government agency that oversees approximately 50 historic sites ranging from archaeological sites to mansions of the 1700s, a variety of 19th-century structures (houses, tenant houses, churches, graveyards, a dueling ground, and benevolent society halls), and even the world's oldest continuously operating airport where the Wright brothers taught the army how to fly (College Park Airport and Aviation Museum).

Preservation is very expensive and usually last on the totem pole when it comes time for budget talks. Also, not every site is worthy of preservation. Those that tell important local, state, or national history or relate to important growth in our country or are architectural gems have to come first.