The Patuxent River Naval Air Museum is a museum at Lexington Park, Maryland, first opened in 1978, which preserves and interprets the Naval Air Station Patuxent River history and heritage of advancing US naval aviation technology with artifacts, photographs and film, documents, and related heritage memorabilia from Patuxent River and other naval stations. The museum is dedicated to those who have employed their talents in advancing naval aviation research, development, testing, and evaluation.

History

In late 1974, a steering group was formed, which prepared the necessary incorporating papers and bylaws, and introduced legislation to the Maryland General Assembly. On 14 March 1975, the Naval Air Test and Evaluation Museum (NATEM) Association was approved and established as a non-profit, tax exempt organization in the State of Maryland. In 1976, the Navy provided the current building and grounds in Lexington Park, Maryland, and the museum opened its doors to the public in July 1978. In 1978, the Museum was recognized by the Secretary of the Navy as one of the ten official Navy museums. The museum later lost that official designation around 2016, due to federal budget restructuring. In 2015, the museum acquired a mural that had been on display at the officer’s club of the neighboring naval air station. On May 28, 2016, the museum opened a new building. In 2018, a new collections management facility was added.

Facilities

The museum is composed of three buildings: A and B, which are exhibit galleries and C, which is used for collections storage.

Aircraft on display