National Cryptologic Museum
National Cryptologic Museum is a museum in Maryland, at a recorded elevation of 49 m. Ivy Hill stands 200 m to the north-northeast, 24 miles off. The nearest named place is National Vigilance Park, a park 0.2 miles away. Star-Spangled Banner Byway runs past it. 40 named summits stand within 25 miles.
The story
The National Cryptologic Museum (NCM) is an American museum of cryptologic history that is affiliated with the National Security Agency (NSA). The first public museum in the U.S. Intelligence Community, NCM is located in the former Colony Seven Motel, just two blocks from the NSA headquarters at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. The motel was purchased, creating a buffer zone between the high security main buildings of the NSA and an adjacent highway. The museum opened to the public on December 16, 1993, and now hosts about 50,000 visitors annually from all over the world. The National Vigilance Park (NVP) was next to the museum, where three reconnaissance aircraft were displayed. A U.S. Army Beechcraft RU-8D Seminole reconnaissance plane represents the Army Airborne Signals Intelligence contribution in the Vietnam War. A Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport, modified to look like a reconnaissance-configured C-130A, memorialized a U.S. Air Force aircraft shot down over Soviet Armenia during the Cold War. Finally, the park also contained a U.S. Navy Douglas EA-3B Skywarrior, commemorating a mission in the Mediterranean on January 25, 1987, in which all seven crew members died. The NCM is open to the public, and admission is free. Donations to the NCM Foundation are accepted. Photography is allowed inside the museum but flash photography is prohibited due to the age of some of the artifacts. The museum temporarily closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in 2020, new museum director Vince Houghton used the opportunity to have the museum renovated. It reopened on October 8, 2022. The NCM is open Tuesday through Friday, 10am–4pm. It is closed on Sundays and all federal holidays, and operates on NSA's emergency/weather closure schedule (i.e. if NSA is closed, the museum is closed as well). The NCM includes a gift store whose operational hours coordinate with the museum's operational schedule and an unclassified library with weekday-only operating hours. The library includes over a dozen boxes of the files of Herbert Yardley, declassified Enigma messages, technical reports, and books including how to crack the Data Encryption Standard using Deep Crack.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dates from 1993.
Wikidata Q112368, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 49 m
What to expect
- Access
- Yes
- Fee
- No
How to reach it
- On the Star-Spangled Banner Byway
- 10.2 mi off the Historic National Road - Maryland, National
- 13.6 mi off the Baltimore's Historic Charles Street, National
- 14.2 mi off the National Historic Seaport
Overlooks nearby
- Rappe's Overlook · 7 mi
- Friction Wall Overlook · 10 mi
- Putney's Bridge · 15 mi
- Old quarry filled with trash · 15 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- National Vigilance Park: 0.2 mi
- Hatler Park: 0.9 mi
- Shadow Park: 1.5 mi
- Saratoga at Parkside Community Park: 1.6 mi
- Bacontown Recreation Area: 2.3 mi
- Corey Walter: 2.0 mi
- Former Canal Gates: 3.4 mi
- Old Savage Dam Gates: 3.5 mi
- Old Quarry Works: 3.6 mi
- Harmans: 4.5 mi
- Fort George G. Meade Museum: 2.0 mi
- Odenton Heritage Society Museum: 4.1 mi
- Laurel Historical Society: 4.4 mi
- Montpelier House Museum: 5.1 mi
- Bowie Railroad Museum: 7.5 mi
- Lake Marion Park: 3.1 mi
- Jacobs Forest Nature Preserve: 3.3 mi
- Jacobs Forest Nature Preserve Path: 3.3 mi
- Quail Run Environmental Preserve: 3.7 mi
- Collins Property: 3.9 mi
- The Island at Piney Orchard: 5.7 mi
- Columbia Gardeners Elkhorn: 5.9 mi
- Columbia Gardeners Elkhorn: 6.0 mi
- Long Reach Community Gardens: 6.6 mi
- Long Reach Community Gardens: 6.6 mi
- National Wildlife Visitor Center: 6.3 mi
- Scott’s Cove at Rocky Gorge Reservoir: 6.4 mi
- Tardis: 7.1 mi
- Crofton Go Kart Raceway: 7.5 mi
- Childs Residence: 7.9 mi
- Midtown Park Gazebo: 7.6 mi
- Avalon Area: 8.2 mi
- Glen Artney Area: 8.6 mi
- Spectator Area: 8.6 mi
- Spectator Area: 8.7 mi
- Lawyers Hill: 7.4 mi
- Chestnut Hill: 12.5 mi
- Mount Misery: 13.2 mi
- Federal Hill: 14.5 mi
- Lowndes Hill: 14.7 mi
- Herald Harbor Beach 1: 12.0 mi
- Pines on the Severn Community Beach: 15.4 mi
- Lindamoor Community Beach: 16.2 mi
- Wild Rose Shores: 17.5 mi
- Lake Claire Beach: 17.9 mi
- Quarry (former): 10.1 mi
- Quarry (former): 10.1 mi
- Quarry (former): 10.3 mi
- Friction Wall: 10.4 mi
- Wiona Cliffs: 13.8 mi
- Indian Springs: 10.2 mi
- Sandy Spring: 13.3 mi
- Takoma Spring: 15.8 mi
- Crises Spring: 16.1 mi
- Silver Spring: 16.2 mi
- Cascade Falls: 8.7 mi
- failed mill dam: 13.5 mi
- Round Falls: 16.2 mi
- McKeldin Falls: 17.4 mi
- Stubblefield Falls: 24.7 mi
- Hawkins Point Light: 14.5 mi
- Thomas Point Shoal Light: 23.5 mi
- Daniels: 14.1 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of National Cryptologic Museum. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivy Hill | NNE 13° | 200 m | 24.4 mi |
| Chestnut Hill | N 355° | 169 m | 12.5 mi |
| The Bunker | NNW 346° | 157 m | 24.3 mi |
| Hunting Hill | W 265° | 156 m | 22.8 mi |
| Abell Ridge | NNE 20° | 155 m | 21.9 mi |
| Satyr Hill | NNE 32° | 151 m | 23.5 mi |
| Cub Hill | NNE 33° | 147 m | 24.6 mi |
| Luskins Hill | NNE 29° | 144 m | 22.6 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:12 | 18:44 | 19:19 |
| June solstice | 05:42 | 19:57 | 20:37 |
| September equinox | 06:55 | 18:31 | 19:06 |
| December solstice | 07:24 | 16:06 | 16:48 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 34 | 37 | 44 | 55 | 64 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 69 | 57 | 47 | 39 |
| Precip in | 3.1 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.7 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Baltimore-washington Intl AP, 6 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOfficial siteOpenStreetMap element way/85520767
Day trips start here
- Savage · 3 mi
- Laurel · 5 mi
- Hanover · 6 mi
- Beltsville · 9 mi
- Columbia · 9 mi
- Glen Burnie · 9 mi
Take the scenic way to National Cryptologic Museum.
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