Sotterley Plantation is a historic landmark

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

located at 44300 Sotterley Lane in Hollywood, St. Mary's County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, USA. It is a long -story, nine- bay frame building, covered with wide, beaded clapboard siding and wood shingle roof, overlooking the

Patuxent River The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast ...

. Also on the property are a sawn-log slave quarters of c. 1830, an 18th-century brick warehouse, and an early-19th-century brick meat house. Farm buildings include an early-19th-century corn crib and an array of barns and work buildings from the early 20th century. Opened to the public in 1961, it was once the home of

George Plater George Plater III (November 8, 1735 – February 10, 1792) was an American planter, lawyer, and statesman from Saint Mary's County, Maryland. He represented Maryland in the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1780, and briefly served as the sixth ...

(1735–1792), the sixth

Governor of Maryland The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...

, and Herbert L. Satterlee (1863–1947), a New York business lawyer and son-in-law of J.P. Morgan. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1972. Sotterley was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 2000, its national significance due to the extremely rare surviving elements of the main house's oldest phase, a c. 1717

post in ground A post in ground construction, also called earthfast or hole-set posts, is a type of construction in which vertical, roof-bearing timbers, called posts, are in direct contact with the ground. They may be placed into excavated postholes, driven ...

structure, and the other elements of its later historical architecture and landscape. with

Sotterley Plantation

Sotterley Plantation is the only Tidewater plantation in Maryland open to the public that offers visitor activities and educational programs. Visitors can tour the early 18th-century mansion, an original slave cabin, a customs warehouse, smokehouse, necessary and corn crib, as well as a formal Colonial Revival garden. The property comprises of rolling fields, gardens, and riverfront.

History

Julius Clifton Callis was the dockmaster for Sotterly Wharf. He was born in 1882. Several of his brothers occasionally worked at the wharf and his brother Noah moved into the wharf house as caretaker after Julius died in 1938. Laura Virginia Callis attended Sotterley School. This class picture was taken there about 1918. Laura Virginia Callis stands second from the left in the second row. She was the daughter of Julius Clifton Callis and Laura Callis. The school closed by 1922.Images of America Sotterley Plantation, Arcadia Publishing, 2013

Gallery

File:Sotterly, State Route 245 & Vista Road Vicinity, Hollywood vicinity (St. Mary's County, Maryland).jpg, Sotterly Plantation, Historic Photograph File:Sotterley Barn Jul 09.JPG, Sotterley Plantation, Barn, July 2009 File:Sotterley Warehouse Jul 09.JPG , Sotterley Plantation, Customs Warehouse, July 2009

References

External links

* * , including undated photo, at Maryland Historical Trust * * * * * * * {{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Historic house museums in Maryland Houses completed in 1703 Plantations in Maryland Plantation houses in Maryland Museums in St. Mary's County, Maryland Houses in St. Mary's County, Maryland Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland 1703 establishments in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in St. Mary's County, Maryland National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Slave cabins and quarters in the United States