Mallows Bay

The Mallows Bay–Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary is a National Marine Sanctuary in the United States located in the Potomac River in Charles County, Maryland. It is best known for the "Ghost Fleet," 118 historic shipwrecks in Mallows Bay in the sanctuary's northeast corner which is the largest shipwreck fleet in the Western Hemisphere. They are among more than 200 shipwrecks in the sanctuary, some of which date as far back as the American Revolutionary War and others to the American Civil War. In addition to shipwrecks, the sanctuary preserves historical sites related to Native Americans, some of them as much as 12,000 years old, as well as a lengthy span of United States history, including the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, steamboat and steamship actvity during the Industrial Era, and what was once an important Potomac River fishing industry. It also protects sites dating as far back as the 17th century related to African-American history, as well as an ecologically and biologically important area of the Potomac River and its Maryland shoreline that supports many species of plants and animals. Designated on September 3, 2019, the Mallows Bay–Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary was the 14th national marine sanctuary, the first in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and the first one designated since the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in 2000.

The Douglas Point Nuclear Power Plant was proposed in 1973 for a site on the Potomac River to the south of Washington, D.C. by the Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO). The proposed generating facility was to be located in Charles County, Maryland, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Washington, D.C. Two boiling water reactors of about 1150 megawatts were proposed, with projected in-service dates of 1981 and 1982. Two 450-foot (140 m) cooling towers were proposed, and water consumption was projected at 108,000 US gallons per minute (410,000 L/min). The project was set aside in the late 1970s. Opposition centered on the plant's effects on striped bass spawning grounds in the Potomac and consequent damage to the striped bass fishery in the Chesapeake Bay.The 1,270-acre (510 ha) site was purchased by the state of Maryland and the Bureau of Land Management and is operated as the Douglas Point State National Resources Management Area, part of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' Nanjemoy Wildlife Management Area.

Purse State Park is a former Maryland state park located on the Potomac River in Charles County that has been subsumed into the 1,365-acre (552 ha) Nanjemoy Wildlife Management Area. As the Purse Area, the former park is known for fossil hunting on the beaches of Wades Bay at the southern end of the Nanjemoy WMA. Fossil discoveries have included shark teeth and Cibicides.

Chopawamsic Island is one of the few islands in the Potomac River within the territorial boundaries of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is on the west side of the river next to Marine Corps Base Quantico about 30 miles south of Washington.

Marine Corps Base Quantico (commonly abbreviated MCB Quantico) is a United States Marine Corps installation located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly 55,148 acres (22,318 ha; 86.169 sq mi; 223.18 km2) of southern Prince William County, Virginia, northern Stafford County, and southeastern Fauquier County. Used primarily for training purposes, MCB Quantico is known as the "Crossroads of the Marine Corps".Quantico Station is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William and Stafford counties in the U.S. state of Virginia, used by the Census Bureau to describe base housing. The population was 4,452 at the 2010 census. The U.S. Marine Corps' Combat Development Command, which develops strategies for U.S. Marine combat and makes up most of the community of over 12,000 military and civilian personnel (including families), is based here. It has a budget of around $300 million and is the home of the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. The Marine Corps Research Center at Quantico pursues equipment research and development, especially telecommunications, for the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Brig, a military prison, was also located at Quantico, until its closure on 31 December 2011 and its subsequent demolition. The FBI Academy, the principal research and training facility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the principal training facility for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are also located on the base. In 2001, the base was designated as part of the Quantico Marine Corps Base Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places. This district includes 122 buildings, two landscapes, a sculpture, and a water tower located within the Mainside area of the base. The contributing properties with separate entries include Tennessee Camp, Camp French, Commanding General's Quarters, and Rising Hill Camp.

Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico (MCAF Quantico) (IATA: NYG, ICAO: KNYG, FAA LID: NYG) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located within Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. It was commissioned in 1919 and is currently home to HMX-1, the squadron that flies the President of the United States. The airfield is also known as Turner Field, after Colonel Thomas C. Turner, a veteran Marine aviator and the second director of Marine Corps Aviation, who lost his life in Haiti in 1931. On August 12, 2010, a new Quantico air facility to accommodate maintenance and storage of HMX-1 helicopters was dedicated in honor of Marine One founding commander Col. Virgil D. Olson (1919–2012).

Marine Corps Brig, Quantico was a Level I facility military prison operated at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia from 1972 until December 31, 2011. The building was located in eastern Stafford County, south of the base headquarters. By definition, Level I means that it "provide[d] pretrial and short-term posttrial confinement support. Level I confinement facilities are generally limited to 90 or fewer days. When necessary, Level I facilities may confine prisoners more than 90 days, but not to exceed 1 year." Unlike Regional corrections facilities, counseling support for military prisoners is limited.In practice, the facility could house approximately 120–150 inmates in living arrangements ranging from squadbays (for the general population) to Special Quarters 2, which is effectively solitary confinement. The facility was used primarily as a place to temporarily harbor inmates awaiting transfer to longer term facilities, such as the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Security included a single chain-link fence about 20 feet high with razor wire, cameras, and guards. Guards were divided into three sections, composed of United States Navy and United States Marine Corps personnel in ranks from E-1 to E-6/7. In addition to security personnel, the Brig had a small administration staff including medical personnel and civilian cooks who worked with inmates to prepare meals. The Brig also offered a small library and chapel for weekly services. The Pretrial Confinement Facility at MCB Quantico was permanently closed on December 31, 2011, as part of cost-cutting measures recommended by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Prisoners awaiting trial will be held instead at a regional military correctional facility in Chesapeake, Virginia. The building was demolished by May 2013 at a cost of $590,264.

The Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum was located at Brown Field, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Quantico, Virginia. It housed a wide variety of historic Marine Corps vehicles/tanks (both wheeled and tracked), equipment, artillery pieces and aircraft (both fixed wing (airplanes) and rotary wing (helicopters)) to trace the evolution and significance of the Marine Air-Ground Team. It also contained several pieces of foreign equipment, such as a Soviet SU-76M self-propelled howitzer. The museum closed on November 15, 2002, during the establishment of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

Quantico (; formerly Potomac) is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 480 at the 2010 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., bordered by the Potomac River to the east and the Quantico Creek to the north. The word Quantico is a corruption of the name of a Doeg village recorded by English colonists as Pamacocack.Quantico is surrounded on its remaining two sides by one of the largest U.S. Marine Corps bases, Marine Corps Base Quantico. The base is the site of the HMX-1 presidential helicopter squadron, the FBI Academy, the FBI Laboratory, the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, the Officer Candidates School, The Basic School, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration training academy, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations headquarters. A replica of the United States Marine Corps War Memorial stands at one of the entrances to the base.

Quantico station is a train station in Quantico, Virginia, served by two Amtrak trains and the Virginia Railway Express's Fredericksburg Line. The existing station house was originally built by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad in 1953. It is located at 550 Railroad Avenue at Potomac Avenue and is surrounded by the Quantico Marine Base.