My obsession with Ilona Massey, Moreland, Chatterton, the old abandoned boat and sharks teeth were just a few of the things helping my mind spin interesting stories.
Another was the giant angel that sat across the river in Maryland – at least, that's what we called it for all those years we vacationed in King George County. I think at some point, someone who resided nearby told us it was a satellite and later views with newly acquired binoculars cemented that fact.
Nevertheless, the satellite – or angel – sat across from us like a sentinel along the river for decades. Moving past it on a daily basis were boats, fishermen, and in bad weather, there could be such oddities as houses floating down the river, barns, outbuildings and other debris.
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| The "angel" or Maryland Point Observatory as I saw it as a child from the shores of the Potomac River near Chatterton's Landing. This photo was taken in 2003. |
By late June of 1972, Hurricane Agnes had hit Virginia and wreaked havoc throughout the state. That year we couldn't even reach the cabin, so we rented from other friends, Allen and Mary Berry, further up the river where one could barely see the Maryland shoreline.
We witnessed some massive destruction and sights one doesn't see every day - namely - houses floating down the river. With the sinking of the Wawaset steamship on Aug. 8. 1873 at Chatterton's Landing and numerous deaths – it's proof that the Potomac River has witnessed untold amounts of destruction, traffic, pollution and clean-up, ships, sharks, fishing, boating, new beautiful homes along its shores peppered among the old, antebellum estates that still stand tall – not to mention the history going back hundreds of years.
And for a few decades, the "angel" satellite stood watching it all unfold.
Ever so grateful to have the worldwide web at my fingertips, I was able to find the angel on Google earth, zoom in and pinpoint it's name and location.
It is actually called the Maryland Point Observatory. Surrounded by swamps and woods, it appears virtually isolated along the Maryland shoreline with just a few parks and camps nearby. There were few structures, two dishes and a small shed.
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| Maryland Point Observatory (the angel) as seen through Google Earth. As it is seen facing the river, one can see the view I had of the satellite during my summers at the river. The back of the satellite itself resembled an angels wings and it's base the long robe of an angel. |
According to research, the observatory was for Naval research and isolated to avoid radio interference that could hamper the radio astronomy in the works.
One dish was an 84 foot wide telescope built in 1958, with a larger one built in 1965. Both were used to study radiation from the sun and moon and to pinpoint space phenomena in space that scientists were unable to see with the naked eye, such as black holes.
The satellites were used up until 1994 after which the site was closed and is now scheduled for demolition, which may have taken place already.
In viewing photos online through Google earth, I can see that what we saw all those years was the cone part of the satellite facing out toward the river with the tall skirt of the "angel" the satellite's base. According to an article at www.redorbit.com, the satellite was used for "groundbreaking work in radio astronomy."
In its heyday, the observatories' astronomers relied on the satellite's information to study the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in what was the very first observed collision of two solar systems.
With the property owned by the Bureau of Land Management and in line for demolition, newer, bigger, more sophisticated satellites are in place elsewhere and "the angel" will be or is now gone.
But for one, brief period of time – I imagined the angel stood guard over the river, protecting its inhabitants from harm.
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