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St. Mary's City (also known as Historic St. Mary's City) is a former colonial town that was
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 it ...
's first European settlement and capital. It is now a large, state-run historic area, which includes a reconstruction of the original colonial settlement, and a
living history Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...
area and museum complex. Half of the area is occupied by the campus of the public honors college,
St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) is a public liberal arts college in St. Mary's City, Maryland.Maryland State Archives, Online Manual, "St. Mary's College Of Maryland: Origin & Functions" http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25univ/stmarys ...
. The area also contains a community of about 933 residents (not counting about 1,400 student residents in campus dorms and apartments)."St. Marys: A When-Did Timeline", pages 6 through 27, by Janet Butler Haugaard, Executive Editor and writer, St. Mary's College of Maryland with Susan G. Wilkinson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Historic St. Mary's City Commission and Julia A. King, Associate Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary's College of Maryland Archives It is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
under state law, and is located in southern St. Mary's County, which is the southernmost tip of the state of Maryland on the western shore of the
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / E ...
. St. Mary's City is bordered by the St. Mary's River, a short, brackish water tidal tributary of the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
, near where it empties into the Chesapeake. St. Mary's City is the historic site of the founding of the
Colony of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryla ...
(then called the
Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryla ...
). The original settlement was also the fourth oldest permanent English settlement in the United States. St. Mary's City is also considered the birthplace of
religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
in the United States, with the earliest North American colonial settlement ever established with the specific mandate of being a haven for both Catholic and Protestant Christian faiths.Cecilius Calvert, "Instructions to the Colonists by Lord Baltimore, (1633)" in Clayton Coleman Hall, ed., Narratives of Early Maryland, 1633-1684 (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910), 11-23. It is also an internationally recognized
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
research area and training center for archaeologists, and is home to the Historical Archaeology Field School."Historic St. Mary's City Wins Archaeology Award", Baynet, Baltimore, MD - 1/23/2012, There have been over 200 archeological digs in St. Mary's city over the last 30 years. Archaeological research continues in the city.


Historic St. Mary's City: Reconstructed colonial town and living history

Historic St. Mary's City is a large public access historic interpretation area with four public museums and is a re-creation of the original colonial capitol of Maryland and also the original settlers village. It has several
living history museum A living museum, also known as a living history museum, is a type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period, providing visitors with an experiential interpretation of history. It is a type of museum that recr ...
s, and the entire complex is staffed by period dressed actors who recreate history theatrically, as well as archeologists and archeology students who provide scientific and historical interpretation, public archeological site displays, reconstructed colonial buildings, including ongoing year-round outdoor
historical reenactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or ...
s, a working colonial farm and the fully working replica of '' ''The Dove'' sailing ship'', which was one of the "two original settlers ships that established the first Maryland colony" (Maryland's historical equivalent of the
Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...
). Historic St. Mary's City also provides presentations on different aspects of colonial era woodland Indian life. At special times of the year, members of the
Piscataway Indian Nation The Piscataway Indian Nation , also called Piscatawa , is a state-recognized tribe in Maryland that is descended from the historic Piscataway people. At the time of European encounter, the Piscataway was one of the most populous and powerful Nat ...
also provide reenactments and other cultural demonstrations. The Piscataway people were the original inhabitants of St. Mary's City and also befriended and helped the early colonists. The area also hosts summer stock theater productions (with historical themes) and other special events. Historic St. Mary's City is owned by the State of Maryland and runs under a registered nonprofit charter. In addition to general tourism, the organization hosts special tours for school children, handling more than 20,000 students on field trips per year. Historic St. Mary's is under the administration of the "Historic St. Mary's City Commission", a government agency of the State of Maryland.


St. Mary's College of Maryland

The public honors college,
St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) is a public liberal arts college in St. Mary's City, Maryland.Maryland State Archives, Online Manual, "St. Mary's College Of Maryland: Origin & Functions" http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25univ/stmarys ...
, is a state-funded coed undergraduate liberal arts college. It is only one of two "Public Honors Colleges" in the nation and one of only a handful of small public liberal arts colleges. It was specifically tasked by the state of Maryland to be modeled after far more expensive private elite liberal arts colleges with the intention of offering such an education in the public sector. The school is secular (nonreligious); the name commemorates the original colonial settlement by that name, half of which was located where the college now stands. In 2014, '' U.S. News & World Report'', in its annual "Best College and Universities" report, ranked St. Mary's College as "5th" in the nation under the category "Top Public Schools" in the "Colleges" ranking.. Best Colleges and Universities Ranking, 2014.


History of St. Mary's City


Beginnings


George Calvert

Colonial St. Mary's City was first envisioned by an English Lord,
George Calvert George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (; 1580 – 15 April 1632), was an English politician and colonial administrator. He achieved domestic political success as a member of parliament and later Secretary of State under King James I. He lost m ...
. Calvert had been born in Yorkshire to a Catholic family, but when he was twelve, the local authorities compelled his parents to send George and his brother Christopher to a Protestant tutor. From then on George conformed to the established religion and had a successful career in service to the crown. His first attempt at establishing a colony was in 1621 in the
Province of Avalon The Province of Avalon was the area around the English settlement of Ferryland in what is now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada in the 17th century, which upon the success of the colony grew to include the land held by Sir William Vaughan and a ...
on land he purchased in Newfoundland, but after a few years, Calvert decided a warmer climate would be a better location. After his wife's death in 1622, and a shift in his political fortunes, in 1625 Calvert resigned his position as a secretary of state and returned to the religion of his childhood, at a time of continued
religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or their lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within societies to alienate o ...
of the Roman Catholics in England. In 1631, Calvert obtained a grant from King Charles I in recognition of his services to king and country. It had been a dream of George Calvert to establish a colony in North America and to also make it a haven for persecuted Catholics.


Cecil Calvert

George Calvert died shortly before the Maryland charter received the royal seal; however, the King continued the grant to his eldest son and heir, Cecil. Cecil Calvert continued and expanded his father's plans. While their interest in providing a haven for fellow Catholics was genuine, it was imperative that the enterprise be profitable. Supporters in England of the Virginia colony opposed the Charter, as they had little interest in having a competing colony to the north. Rather than going to the colony himself, Baltimore stayed behind in England to deal with the political threat and sent his next younger brother
Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...
in his stead. He never travelled to Maryland. Leonard spent the rest of his life there, leading the settlers through many trials and tribulations, as well as to great successes in the farming and selling of tobacco back to Britain. Leonard, more than anyone else in his family, became the actual founder of colonial Maryland.


The ''Ark'' and the ''Dove''

Led by Leonard Calvert, in November 1633, two ships, '' The Ark'' and '' The Dove'', set sail from the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
, loaded with settlers, Jesuit missionaries and indentured servants. After a long, rough sea voyage with a stopover to resupply in
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
, they arrived in what is now Maryland in March 1634. They made their first permanent settlement in what is now
St. Mary's County, Maryland St. Mary's County, established in 1637, is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 113,777. Its county seat is Leonardtown. The name is in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus. St. Mary's Count ...
choosing to settle on a bluff overlooking the St. Mary's River, a relatively calm, tidal tributary near the mouth of the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
where it empties into the
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / E ...
. The site had been occupied by members of the Yaocomico"Uncovering a Slice of Life In Historic St. Mary's City", Washington Post, Thursday, August 11, 2005
/ref> branch of the
Piscataway Indian Nation The Piscataway Indian Nation , also called Piscatawa , is a state-recognized tribe in Maryland that is descended from the historic Piscataway people. At the time of European encounter, the Piscataway was one of the most populous and powerful Nat ...
, who had abandoned it as being vulnerable to attack by the Susquehanna. The settlers had with them a former Virginia colonist who was fluent in their language and they met quickly with the chief of the region. The Tayac Kittamaquund,
paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and arch ...
of the
Piscataway Indian Nation The Piscataway Indian Nation , also called Piscatawa , is a state-recognized tribe in Maryland that is descended from the historic Piscataway people. At the time of European encounter, the Piscataway was one of the most populous and powerful Nat ...
, sold thirty miles of land there to the English newcomers. He wanted to develop them as allies and trading partners (especially because of their advanced technology, such as farming implements, metal-working, gunpowder and weapons, types of food and liquor, etc.). For some time, the Piscataway, their
tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
tribes, and the English Marylanders coexisted peacefully.


Naming of St. Mary's City

St. Mary's City was officially named and founded on the site of the new settlement on March 27, 1634. "The name derived from the king's suggestion that the colony be named "Marianus" in honor of the queen, Henrietta Maria...They settled on "Terra Mariae". The original group of settlers numbered 300, mostly English and also some Irish. There may also have been at least one mixed race (African and European heritage) indentured servant who had been picked up on the way over in Barbados. There were also other indentured servants from England and Ireland. The group was a mix of Catholics and Protestants during a time of religious persecution of Catholics in the
British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
. Leonard Calvert (1606-1647), himself a Roman Catholic, became the governor of the new colony and continued to lead the settlers. St. Mary's City became the
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
of the new
Maryland colony The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...
, and remained so for sixty one years until 1694.


1634–1635: First Maryland legislative assembly

The first Maryland assembly, the first session of a non-native legislative body in Maryland, convened in 1634 and met periodically through 1635. The assembly quickly began to challenge a number of Cecil Calvert's edicts (sent in a letter along with the settlers), although they did not challenge his proprietorship over the new colony or his requirement for religious tolerance. Nevertheless, they pushed successfully for more personal freedoms and to adapt Calvert's edicts to the realities on the ground in the colony, which were not always the same as his expectations. For example, he wanted them to live in regimented fashion within the newly constructed fort in St. Mary's City but the greatest need perceived by the assembly was to allow for more spread-out farming. Leonard Calvert diplomatically lent support to the assembly's wishes in letters to his brother, and Cecil Calvert largely acceded.
Mathias de Sousa Mathias de Sousa was the first Black elected Representative in America. A free man, Sousa was of African and Portuguese descent. Life It is believed that Sousa's father was born in Portugal. Within colonial Maryland society, Sousa was defined a ...
was a settler in the colony who was described in historical records by one witness as being "
mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...
" (mixed African and European heritage, although sometimes this meant anyone who was dark skinned). He originally arrived in the new colony as an indentured servant working for the Jesuit missionaries who had come with the settlers. He later gained his freedom and went on to become an assemblyman, making him (possibly) the first person of African heritage to participate in a legislative body in North America.


Early mandates for religious tolerance

Instructions from George Calvert, the First Lord Baltimore, and the holder of the grant to the new Maryland Colony colony specified in 1633 that the new governor and all settlers were to practice religious tolerance. Upon the death of George Calvert, additional instructions written by his son Cecil Calvert, the new Lord Baltimore, also required religious tolerance in the new colony. They were sent along with his younger brother Leonard Calvert who accompanied the first settlers to Maryland in 1634 and who was appointed the first governor of the Maryland Colony, although they also encouraged Catholics to be reserved about expressions of their faith in order not to antagonize Protestants. These instructions became the first laws of Maryland. This intent was carried forward and expanded upon by the majority of early settlers of the time, who upon forming their first legislative assembly, called "The Assembly of the
Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryla ...
", passed the
Maryland Toleration Act The Maryland Toleration Act, also known as the Act Concerning Religion, the first law in North America requiring religious tolerance for Christians. It was passed on April 21, 1649, by the assembly of the Maryland colony, in St. Mary's City in ...
in 1649, further codifying the protection of religious freedom.


First colonial town

The original St. Mary's settlement was laid out according to a
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...
town plan, with the settlers living closely in a town with church, stores and homes close by and outlying farms, fields, woods and orchards laid out in a grid or strips of land. However, most residents of St. Mary's City later preferred to live on their
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus ''Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the chie ...
plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
in the surrounding countryside. The settlement was meant to be the capital of the new
Maryland Colony The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...
and
Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryla ...
.


Expansion


Tobacco successes and the expansion of slavery

St. Mary's City experienced an economic boom due to successful
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus ''Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the chie ...
farming, which was the most important export commodity. Tobacco became an extremely valuable cash crop in the colony. This also drove the expansion of African
chattel slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. Older practices of allowing chattel slaves to gain freedom by converting to Catholicism or by eventually grandfathering indentured rights to them after many years of servitude were abolished. The character of the colony began to change more and more to a slave-based economy and slavery began to embed itself into the culture. An increasing town population contributed to the desire for constructing public buildings, some of which were a state house, a
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
chapel, a jail, and an inn.


Growing religious tensions

During and after the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...
, fights between
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
and
Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
developed in the colony. Often this tension went in long cycles, with extended periods where the tension was more repressed followed by acute periods where religious divisions would flare up, sometimes driving change in St. Mary's City and Maryland in the process.


Margaret Brent

Margaret Brent was a business-savvy and successful Catholic settler in St. Mary's City,Jo-Ann Pilardi, Baltimore Sun, "Margaret Brent: a Md. founding mother", March 05, 1998

/ref> who, contrary to the mores of the time that discouraged women from managing their own estates, although this was legal, insisted on managing her own business affairs. She had also traveled to the colony as a single, unmarried woman which was contrary to expectations of the time. The law, in writing, had always been on Brent's side, but the common practices and beliefs of the day did not always guarantee enforcement, especially in the male-dominated frontier environment of the colonies, far away from the courts of England. As a woman, she had to defend her legal rights in order to be sure they were respected. Brent defended her right to run her own estate in common law court before the assembly in St. Mary's City, making a spirited case, and won, making her the first woman in English North America to stand for herself in a court of law and before an assembly. She also demanded the right to vote in the assembly. Brent also served as an attorney before the colonial court, mostly representing women of the colony. She is considered to have been very legally astute. Surviving records indicate that she pleaded at least 134 cases. Although she did not explicitly campaign for women's rights in general, she is credited for having done so implicitly.


The Plundering Time


1644–46: Plundering Time

The violence stemming from the English civil war eventually spread to the colonies and a Protestant raiding party attacked St. Mary's City, driving off many settlers and burning several structures. After the attack there were only about 100 people still living in the town. The raiders took control of the city and added further fortifications. The raiders plundered the homes of all the Catholic residents of the city who refused to renounce their faith and anyone who professed friendship to a Catholic. This would later be called the Plundering Time by the colonists.


1647: Leonard Calvert retakes St. Mary's City

Leonard Calvert had spent a few years in exile from St. Mary's City but remained in the colonies. During this time he married Margaret Brent's sister which also brought Margaret Brent into the Calvert family as an in-law, advancing her in some ways to her advantage and in other ways to her detriment. Nearly two years later, Leonard Calvert managed to raise a militia and led an attack to retake St. Mary's City. They succeeded in driving off the Protestant militia and regained control of the town. Then Calvert and his men carried out successful raids on Kent Island in the Chesapeake, which had become a stronghold of his foes, defeating the force there. At this point Calvert had the upper hand, although the threat still remained. However, within a year, Leonard Calvert became sick and died, creating a temporary power vacuum in the colony and also worryingly for the residents of St. Mary's City, leaving Calvert's militia, which had been protecting the city, unpaid.


Margaret Brent intervenes at a personal cost

Margaret Brent had been named by Leonard Calvert as the executor of his last will and testament, a very unusual designation for a woman of her time. She therefore handled the liquidation of Leonard Calvert's estate. However at the same time, Calvert's still-unpaid militia had become a security issue for St. Mary's City. Even if the militia simply disbanded due to the soldiers remaining unpaid, the City would then be vulnerable again to attack. And so Brent successfully petitioned the Maryland Assembly to grant her power of attorney over the holdings of Cecil Calvert, the Lord Baltimore, who was Leonard's brother living in England. She then used proceeds from liquidating some of these holdings to pay the militiamen. Although her actions were later defended by the Maryland assembly as necessary in an emergency, a strain emerged between the Calvert family in England and Brent. Even though the assembly stated that Brent's actions may have in fact, helped to save the colony, the Calverts did not approve of Brent making a decision to spend money raised from Cecil Calvert's assets. In defense of Brent, the Maryland Assembly issued the following proclamation about her: However this did not sway Cecil Calvert. This dispute also set off racial tensions between the Brent family and Cecil Calvert in England, because Brent's brother, who had also been in St. Mary's City, had married a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American
princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...
. In the same letter accusing Margaret Brent of mishandling Leonard Calvert's estate, Cecil Calvert also disparaged her brother, Giles Brent, for having married a Native American woman. At the end of the letter, Cecil Calvert ordered Brent and her brother and sisters to leave the Maryland Colony. Although the assembly was largely supportive of Brent and largely took her side in the dispute with the surviving Calvert family in England, during this time she also petitioned for the
right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
in the assembly. However the assembly denied her that right because she was a woman. This was the first known attempt by a woman in English North America to gain the right to vote. Despite appeals on her behalf by the Maryland assembly, Cecil Calvert had demanded by letter that she and her brother and sisters leave the Maryland colony. Consequently, Brent left the colony with her sister. They lived for a year on an island in the Potomac River and then moved to the Virginia colony. Other relatives moved directly to Virginia. Brent established a new estate there which she called "Peace". She eventually became very successful and stayed in Virginia for the rest of her life.


1649: Maryland assembly ratifies the "Maryland Toleration Act"

The
Maryland Toleration Act The Maryland Toleration Act, also known as the Act Concerning Religion, the first law in North America requiring religious tolerance for Christians. It was passed on April 21, 1649, by the assembly of the Maryland colony, in St. Mary's City in ...
, crafted and passed by the reinstated Maryland assembly in St. Mary's City, was the first law codified to mandate religious tolerance among Christians of various sects (especially Catholics and Protestants). It was approved not only to carry out the wishes of George Calvert and his son and Cecil Calvert that the colony be a place of religious toleration between Catholics and Protestants. More urgently, the act, which applied to all of the Maryland Colony, sought to settle once and for all the religious divisions that had triggered the recent fighting. The assembly at the time was majority Protestant, and the aristocratic leadership, including the governorship of the colony was Catholic. The act remained in effect for 40 years, and contributed to relative peace in the colony during that time.


Stagnation


1660s: Problems in the tobacco economy

In the 1660s tobacco, which had long been a lucrative boom crop, began to experience price declines. This was likely due to increased production and competition in other colonies. The problem was then aggravated by Maryland planters cutting their tobacco product with other leaves in order to make up for the decrease in the price of a tobacco barrel. Although helpful in the very short run, in the longer run this cutting practice hurt the reputation of Maryland tobacco in England and further devalued the yearly tobacco crops. All of this began, in stages, to have a destabilizing effect on the Maryland Colony, which then further aggravated latent religious tensions between the majority Protestant planters and the Catholic aristocratic leadership. All of this further intensified reliance on
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
in St. Mary's City, as plantation owners sought to eliminate the cost of paid labor in producing tobacco.


1676: Original brick Maryland Statehouse constructed

In 1676, the original Maryland Statehouse, the home of the Maryland colonial assembly, was finished. The current reconstructed statehouse is not in the original location, which today lies under the churchyard of the adjacent Trinity Episcopal Church. When the original statehouse was dismantled in 1829, Trinity was built out of the statehouse bricks."St. Marys: A When-Did Timeline", page 4, by Janet Butler Haugaard, Executive Editor and writer, St. Mary's College of Maryland with Susan G. Wilkinson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Historic St. Mary's City Commission and Julia A. King, Associate Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary's College of Maryland Archives


1678: First printing house in southern colonies opens in St. Mary's City

Moving to St. Mary's City in 1678, William and Dinah Nuthead became the first printers in Maryland. While Dinah Nuthead was illiterate, she would often help her husband in operating the printing press.Historic St. Mary's City. "Print House: Meet the Nutheads!".n.d. Received fro

/ref> By copying the letters and the processes of her husband, Dinah was able to continue the printing business following her husband's death in 1695. After gaining a license to print from the colonial government, Dinah became the first female printer in the colony. When Dinah moved to
Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
in 1695, she was able to continue their printing business in the new location.


Decline


1689: Watershed eruption of religious conflict

In 1689, about forty years after the passage of the Maryland Toleration Act, sectarian tensions between Protestants and Catholics became so great that Protestant settlers revolted against the Lords Baltimore in the Protestant uprising in Maryland.Maclear, J.F. (1995). Church and State in the Modern Age: A Documentary History. New York: Oxford University Press US. "The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, Volume I: To 1877", by Paul Boyer, Clifford Clark, Karen Halttunen, Sandra Hawley, Joseph Kett, ''"Chapter: 4 The Bonds of Empire: 1660-1740" page 70,'' Cengage Learning, publisher, Jan 1, 2012 The
English Crown This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sax ...
took over the Maryland colony and appointed royal governors, replacing the Calverts. Legally mandated religious tolerance was abolished, first by Royal decree and then later by a law passed by a now majority-Protestant state assembly, in the new capital in
Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
.


1690s: Catholics lost right to vote, other anti-Catholic policies implemented

In 1692 Catholics in the Maryland Colony lost the right to vote.Francis Graham Lee, "All Imaginable Liberty: The Religious Liberty Clauses of the First Amendment", page 22, University Press of America (June 6, 1995) Catholics were also no longer allowed to worship in public and could only worship in their private homes. Laws were also passed limiting new Roman Catholic immigration to the colony. Although a Catholic person's right to vote in Maryland would be reinstated by the state assembly some decades later, other forms of discrimination against Catholics would continue through most of the next century and would leave lasting religious tensions in Maryland felt all the way through to the election of
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
just past the mid-20th century.Casino, Joseph J. "Roman Catholics in the colonial period." ''in the fourth paragraph in the article'' In Smith, Billy G., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Colonization and Settlement, 1608 to 1760, Revised Edition (Volume II). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc.

(accessed February 26, 2014).


Relocation of Maryland Capital

The new Protestant Maryland governor Sir
Francis Nicholson Lieutenant-General Francis Nicholson (12 November 1655 – ) was a British Army general and colonial official who served as the Governor of South Carolina from 1721 to 1725. He previously was the Governor of Nova Scotia from 1712 to 1715, the ...
relocated the capital from St. Mary's City to the more central
Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
(then called "Anne Arundel Town") in 1695. The colonial statehouse in St. Mary's was turned into a Protestant church the same year. In 1695 St. Peters freehold, the former home of Maryland governors in St. Mary's City, was destroyed in an explosion. Whether this was an intentional act or an accident is not known, as a large gunpowder magazine had been stored in its basement. The freehold had briefly been the home of the new Protestant Governor
Francis Nicholson Lieutenant-General Francis Nicholson (12 November 1655 – ) was a British Army general and colonial official who served as the Governor of South Carolina from 1721 to 1725. He previously was the Governor of Nova Scotia from 1712 to 1715, the ...
until he ordered the colonial capital moved to Annapolis. Prior to this the freehold had been the home of Philip Calvert, the former Catholic Governor of the Maryland colony and Cecil Calvert's half-brother until his death in 1682.


Anti-Catholic policies and discrimination in the 18th century

During the 18th century, Catholics became a persecuted minority group in Maryland, including St. Mary's county. Catholics were denied the right to serve in the militia, taxed double when money had to be raised for the military, and continued to be discouraged from immigrating. Wealthy Catholics often became crypto-Catholics (practicing their religion in secret and sending their children abroad to get Catholic educations), but poor Catholics could not afford this and were more vulnerable to discrimination practices. Consequently, over the generations, many converted to Protestantism in order to avoid discrimination. By the late 18th century, the Catholic population had dropped to 9%.


Abandonment of the city

With the seat of government gone, the town lost its reason to exist. Remaining inhabitants were mostly farmers. The former town center was converted to agricultural land, and
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
remains from the colonial town were undisturbed in the ground.


1700–1865: Antebellum slave plantation era


Early 18th century: Consolidation of farms

The small remaining farms in St. Mary's City were consolidated into a large
antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum a ...
-style
slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
by the Brome-Howard family, which operated through a majority of the 19th century. The main
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 ...
was built over the ruins of one of the Calvert residences.


Civil War

During the Civil War, Union troops occupied St. Mary's County, which like a large part of Maryland at the time, had Southern sympathies. Piers and wharfs in St. Mary's County were burned by Union forces in order to stop trade with the confederacy which was only across the Potomac River. Brome's Wharf in St. Mary's City was also burned, as it was a part of what was by then the Brome-Howard Plantation, owned by Doctor Brome, a slave-owner and a likely confederate sympathizer. There is archeological evidence that the Union Army may have occupied the plantation for some time. Records show that Brome later complained that Union troops had damaged his piano while ransacking the main plantation house. Records show that one quarter of the 66 people living under slavery at Doctor Brome's plantation in St. Mary's City escaped during the Civil War and at least two of them then joined the Union Army. Even before slavery was legally abolished, the Union Army had a policy allowing enslaved men to gain their freedom if they became Union soldiers. Other records show that the total number of people living under slavery there during this time was 59. Two men who had escaped slavery from the St. Mary's City area, Alexander Gough and William Gross, joined the famed
38th United States Colored Infantry Regiment The 38th United States Colored Infantry Regiment was an African American unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War. A part of the United States Colored Troops, the regiment saw action in Virginia during the war and later served on the T ...
of the
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to the ...
, which won unit citations for valor in the
Battle of Chaffin's Farm The Battle of Chaffin's Farm and New Market Heights, also known as Laurel Hill and combats at Forts Harrison, Johnson, and Gilmer, was fought in Virginia on September 29–30, 1864, as part of the siege of Petersburg in the American Civil War. ...
(also known as the "Battle of New Market Heights") in the American Civil War. Gough is known to have survived the war and lived the rest of his life in Baltimore. Two other African American men from the area, William H. Barnes and
James H. Harris James H. Harris (1828 – January 28, 1898) was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War. He earned the highest military decoration in the United States—the Medal of Honor—for his actions at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm. He was Afr ...
both from Great Mills (which is just to the north of St. Mary's City), who had been free tenant farmers before the war, also served in the same regiment. Harris and Barnes each received the
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor ...
for their actions in the
Battle of Chaffin's Farm The Battle of Chaffin's Farm and New Market Heights, also known as Laurel Hill and combats at Forts Harrison, Johnson, and Gilmer, was fought in Virginia on September 29–30, 1864, as part of the siege of Petersburg in the American Civil War. ...
. There is evidence suggesting that additional slaves from the Brome plantation fought in the war as well. In total, over 700 African Americans from St. Mary's County served in the Union Army during the Civil War. The United States Colored Troops Memorial Statue, in
Lexington Park, Maryland Lexington Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States, and the principal community of the Lexington Park, Maryland Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 11,626 at th2010 census History Nati ...
, seven miles north of St. Mary's City, honors and memorializes African American soldiers from St. Mary's County, including the men of the 38th United States Colored Troops Regiment, who served as soldiers or sailors in the Union cause during the American Civil War. An educational plaque at the site specifically mentions Barnes and Harris and how they received the Medal of Honor.


Post-Civil War farming

The Civil War ended slavery on the plantation and the area remained mostly under a large farm, worked by tenant farmers and owned by descendants of the original owners until the 20th century. By the mid-20th century, few 17th-century buildings still stood. The town center site appeared to be farmland with the exception of a few private residences, and also after 1840, a slowly expanding female seminary school that began with just a small part of the total area.


Writings about the decline of St. Mary's City

In 1838 the novel ''Rob of the Bowl'' was published; it was a story about the struggle for
religious tolerance Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...
in Maryland and was written by John Pendleton Kennedy, and was set in St. Mary's City and also neighboring St. Inigoes, Maryland."Rob of the Bowls" John Pendelton Kennedy, 1838, G.P. Putnam and Sons, New York

/ref> The book opens with a poem that Kennedy selected as a re-attribution to describe St. Mary's City long after its abandonment as the capitol of Maryland. This also refers to part of the 19th-century history and mythology of St. Mary's City (in the State of Maryland) as a place where great things happened (such as the founding of the Colonial Government of Maryland and the birthplace of
religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
in the United States) but which eventually became a
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by Alle ...
.


St. Mary's City's resurgence


1840: Establishment of St. Mary's Female Seminary

The book ''Rob of the Bowl'' tells a somewhat fictionalized story of the original St. Mary's City. The author, after the book became popular, publicly lamented that there was no monument to memorialize the original St. Mary's City and what happened there."St. Marys: A When-Did Timeline", page 6, by Janet Butler Haugaard, Executive Editor and writer, St. Mary's College of Maryland with Susan G. Wilkinson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Historic St. Mary's City Commission and Julia A. King, Associate Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary's College of Maryland Archives A few years later, in 1840, a women's nondenominational seminary high school was established"St. Mary's College of Maryland: Historical Evolution", Maryland Manual Online, Maryland State Archives, Government of the State of Maryland

/ref> on the grounds of old St. Mary's City, in response to Kennedy's call for a monument. Its founders described it as a "living monument" to the beginnings of religious tolerance and established it to meet the educational needs of young women in the county and the state. The school was called St. Mary's Seminary. The school was intentionally made nondenominational, to honor, promote and memorialize religious tolerance, and also to help heal Protestant-Catholic tensions that still haunted St. Mary's County at the time. The name was changed to St. Mary's Female Seminary, to clarify the school's already existing female student-only mission.


Early 1900s

In 1926, the former St. Mary's women's Catholic seminary school (a boarding high school within the proper of old St. Mary's City that was founded in 1840) was expanded to a two-year seminary female junior college combined with the last two years of high school (four years total). This was seen as a natural outgrowth of its former role as a now elite, state-funded women's high school."St. Marys: A When-Did Timeline", page 11, by Janet Butler Haugaard, Executive Editor and writer, St. Mary's College of Maryland with Susan G. Wilkinson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Historic St. Mary's City Commission and Julia A. King, Associate Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary's College of Maryland Archives Through an act of the Maryland Legislature, St. Mary's gender limitation was removed, and the word "female" was consequently dropped from the school's name. However, although males may enroll, they are not offered housing. The name of the school was changed to St. Mary's Seminary Junior College. The St. Mary's City Commission was chartered in 1966 by the State Assembly of Maryland and the Governor, Millard Tawes."St. Marys: A When-Did Timeline", page 21, by Janet Butler Haugaard, Executive Editor and writer, St. Mary's College of Maryland with Susan G. Wilkinson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Historic St. Mary's City Commission and Julia A. King, Associate Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary's College of Maryland Archives The charter created the commission as "a new, independent state agency" reporting directly to the Governor of Maryland "to preserve, develop and maintain" St. Mary's City as a state "monument", and also to oversee ongoing archeological work. The Junior College was ordered to be expanded to a four-year institution in 1966"Growth Leads to Change", Point News, Monday, November 21st, 1966, ''St. Mary's College of Maryland Archives''

/ref> (effective in 1968) and renamed "
St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) is a public liberal arts college in St. Mary's City, Maryland.Maryland State Archives, Online Manual, "St. Mary's College Of Maryland: Origin & Functions" http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25univ/stmarys ...
". It was chartered as a four-year public liberal arts college. Its mission was to provide a liberal arts college in the public sector to students who could not afford to attend elite private colleges. Reorganization was completed in 1967.Maryland State Archives, Online Manual, "St. Mary's College of Maryland: Origin & Functions

/ref>


1969: St. Mary's City declared a National Landmark

St. Mary's 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 1969. and   The plan "recommends acquisition of 1200 acres" and suggests a museum, visitor center, working tobacco farm, public transportation, and reconstruction of the ''Ark'' and ''Dove'' as first steps in the reconstruction of the historic city."St. Marys: A When-Did Timeline", page 26, by Janet Butler Haugaard, Executive Editor and writer, St. Mary's College of Maryland with Susan G. Wilkinson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Historic St. Mary's City Commission and Julia A. King, Associate Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary's College of Maryland Archives


1976: World premiere of ''Wings of the Morning'', by Kermit Hunter

Commissioned to celebrate the founding of St. Mary's City, Hunter's outdoor drama prominently featured the characters of Leonard Calvert, William Claiborne, Ann Arundel, Richard Ingel, Mathias de Sousa and others, and launched the career of two-time Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington, who made his stage debut as DeSousa. Also in the cast were Tony winner Debra Monk as Ann Arundel), and actor/writer/director Jackson Heath as Ingel. On July 4, 1976, a ''Washington'' Post review of the play was read aloud on the floor of Congress and permanently entered in the Congressional Record.


1980–present

After years of exploratory test digs and historical detective work, and with the possible original key town locations having been narrowed down, archeological dig activity was increased significantly in a determined effort to finish uncovering the original layout of the colonial settlement. In 1984, ''Lord Baltimore's World'' was a large-scale, months-long colonial reenactment that was staffed by professional actors and also included live Shakespearean theater. It occurred within St. Mary's City proper and celebrated the 350th anniversary of the arrival of Maryland's first colonists."St. Marys: A When-Did Timeline", page 32, ''See section on "Lord Baltimore's World"'', by Janet Butler Haugaard, Executive Editor and writer, St. Mary's College of Maryland with Susan G. Wilkinson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Historic St. Mary's City Commission and Julia A. King, Associate Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary's College of Maryland Archives After four years of intensified archeological digging, most of the original town layout had been discovered. It had been originally expected that the layout would be chaotic, but instead it was revealed that the town was actually carefully planned in a
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...
style, similar to
Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is bo ...
and Annapolis Maryland. Old St. Mary's City, Annapolis and Williamsburg are the only three towns in North America planned and built in a Baroque layout. The St. Mary's City Commission, which had evolved through a variety of roles and slight name variations assigned to its historical research, reconstruction and preservation charter charter, was assigned a new name in 1991 by the State of Maryland: the Historic St. Mary's Commission. This commission still has administrative authority over about half of St. Mary's City; it is responsible for the preservation of more than 800 acres of land and 3 miles of shoreline.


Present

Historic St. Mary's City is now a significant tourist attraction in the state of Maryland, visited by approximately 20,000 students per year,"Exhibit 1 Visitors to Historic St. Mary's City" in the section called "D17B0151 – Historic St. Mary's City Commission", in the "Analysis of the FY 2015 Maryland Executive Budget, 2014", Page 6, Fiscal 2009-2015 Est

/ref> in addition to approximately 25,000 other tourists per year (a rough yearly total of 45,000 people). Expansion and development of the historic area continues, including reconstruction and replica creation of additional period sites. Historic St. Mary's City is operated as an outdoor living history museum, and includes costumed actors portraying colonial-era life, museum exhibitions, and numerous reconstructed buildings.
St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) is a public liberal arts college in St. Mary's City, Maryland.Maryland State Archives, Online Manual, "St. Mary's College Of Maryland: Origin & Functions" http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/25univ/stmarys ...
is now a nationally recognized elite educational institution in the public sector. In 2014, '' U.S. News & World Report'', in its annual report, ranked St. Mary's College as 5th in the nation under the category "Top Public Schools" in the "Colleges" category.


Archaeological research in St. Mary's City

The National Park Service has described St. Mary's City as "probably the most intact 17th-century English town surviving in our nation represented entirely by archaeological resources." Numerous archaeological digs and research projects continue in St. Mary's City. In the last 30 years, there have been more than 200 archaeological digs in the city.


First excavations

After explorations by Henry Chandlee Forman in the 1940s, excavations began in 1971 with the creation of the St. Mary's City Historic Commission, a state institution tasked with discovering and preserving archaeological remains in St. Mary's City, establishing a museum on the site, and conducting related historical research. Since then, much of the original colonial St. Mary's City has been found. The Historic St. Mary's City Commission continues to excavate the area today."Discovering the Past", Historic St. Mary's City / Research section of Historic St. Mary's City Museum website
/ref>


The Historical Archaeology Field School

In conjunction with St. Mary's College of Maryland, the Historic St. Mary's Commission (formerly the "St. Mary's City Commission") runs the Historic Archeological Field School every summer that is attended by students from all over the United States and other countries as well. Many of its graduates now hold prominent positions in the field. The students not only study, but also work in many of the active archeological dig sites in St. Mary's City. Providing extensive hands-on experience, the school teaches all aspects of professional archeological work, including working in real archeological digs, analyzing and conserving artifacts, as well as cataloging, archiving and related historical research. The school has been in existence for more than 40 years.


Current work

St. Mary's City has numerous active archeological dig sites, focusing on precolonial, colonial and antebellum (slavery era) history.


Notable discoveries

Some important archeological discoveries in St. Mary's City include: *The site of the first printing house in the Southern colonies;"Interpreters help visitors bring Historic St. Mary's City back to life", Bay Journal, Lara Lutz on October 01, 2006

/ref> a quantity of lead print type (for printing words), indicating that the site where it was found was the documented William Nuthead Printing House *A 1645 fort with a surrounding
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
, claimed to be the only structural remains of the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...
in the American Colonies *Discovery of the site of St. John's Freehold,"St. John's Freehold Brings History into Focus", BayNet.com, Pete Hurrey, 9/18/2008

/ref> where Maryland's citizen government was instituted * Façon de Venise glassware *A set of
Kütahya Kütahya () (historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is inhabited by some 578,640 people (2022 estimate). The region of Kütahya has ...
ceramics, one of only two known examples found in the United States *19th-century slave quarters from St. Mary's City's later
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
period *Three 17th-century lead coffins."Old Coffin Opened, New Mystery Found: Archeology: Scientists had hoped 17th-Century grave would yield secrets, but disinterment brings only more questions." ''Los Angeles Times'', November 14, 1992, Eugene L. Meyer, The Washington Post

/ref> One of these is suspected of being the coffin of the former colonial chancellor and also judge, Philip Calvert. *The foundation of a Jesuit chapel *Discovery of the site of St. Peters Freehold, the former home of Maryland Chancellor Philip Calvert."British pinpoint Md. Colonial mansion: Scientists rediscover early foundations in St. Mary's City", October 13, 1996, By Frank D. Roylance , Frank D. Roylance, Sun Staff

/ref> St. Peters freehold was destroyed in a violent explosion in 1695 when 900 pounds of gunpowder stored in its cellar were set off. Whether the explosion was intentional or an accident is unknown. The discovery was made by a team of visiting British scientists, and was featured in a British ''
Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
'' documentary that aired on The Learning Channel. *Garret Van Sweringen's Inn,"Retracing a Dutch settler's impact on English colony", The Enterprise, archived online at SoMdNews.com - Southern Maryland News online, Wednesday, March 26, 2008, Paul C. Leibe, staff writer

/ref> a 17th-century inn founded by Garret Van Sweringen an Innkeeper and a leader in St. Mary's City's development *Extensive artifacts from successive Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American occupations *The 18th-century house of merchant and planter John Hicks, with an extensive ceramic assemblage *Former slaves quarters and living area discovered on current campus grounds of St. Mary's College of Maryland, monument in honor of enslaved people erected by college These findings come along with thousands of artifacts and bone fragments"Planning to Preserve the Past for The Future, Part 2: A Detailed Conservation Survey of Archaeological Artifacts at Historic St. Mary's City", Lisa Young, President of Alexandria Conservation Services, Ltd. with contributions by Kareen Gualtieri, HSMC Conservation Assistant Silas D. Hurry, HSMC Curator of Collections and Archaeological Laboratory Director, page 18, below picture, which is under section entitled "Detailed Conservation Survey: Purpose of Survey" references more than 2,000 boxes of artifacts

/ref> that have been cataloged and processed into St. Mary's City historical museums and storage archives. These artifacts continue to be analyzed, and continue to advance period research in various fields.


St. Mary's Fort

In late 2019, St. Mary's Fort was unearthed to be later revealed in March 2021. The structure was built in 1634 by the first English colonists, to be their fourth colony in the New World after Jamestown, Virginia, Jamestown (1607),
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...
(1620), and
Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its ...
(1630). Moreover, a silver coin was discovered there, dated back to the reign of King Charles I.


See also

*
History of Maryland The recorded history of Maryland dates back to the beginning of European exploration, starting with the Venetian John Cabot, who explored the coast of North America for the Kingdom of England in 1498. After European settlements had been made to ...
*
Piscataway tribe The Piscataway or Piscatawa , are Native Americans. They spoke Algonquian Piscataway, a dialect of Nanticoke. One of their neighboring tribes, with whom they merged after a massive decline of population following two centuries of interaction ...
, a Native American people in St. Mary's City prior to the arrival of British colonists * Economic history of Colonial Maryland *
History of slavery in Maryland Slavery in Maryland lasted over 200 years, from its beginnings in 1642 when the first Africans were brought as slaves to St. Mary's City, to its end after the Civil War. While Maryland developed similarly to neighboring Virginia, slavery declined ...
*
Freedom of religion in the United States In the United States, freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right provided in the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Freedom of religion is closely associated with separation of church and state, a concept advocated by Coloni ...
*
Plundering Time The Plundering Time (1644–1646), also known as "Claiborne and Ingle's Rebellion", was a period of civil unrest and lawlessness in the English colony of the Province of Maryland. Causes of rebellion The causes of the rebellion included William ...
*
Battle of the Severn A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Maryland This is a List of National Historic Landmarks in Maryland. There are currently 76 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in Maryland. Also included are short lists of former NHLs and of other historic sites of national importance administered by the ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Mary's County, Maryland


References


Sources

* Curran, Robert Emmett. ''Papist Devils: Catholics in British America'', CUA Press, 2014, * King, Julia A., ''Archaeology, Narrative, and the Politics of the Past: The View from Southern Maryland'', Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2012,


External links

*
Free online resource for students on history of St. Mary's City and Colonial Maryland
Historic St. Mary's City
St. Mary's College of Maryland website


* ttps://stmaryscity.org/walktogether/ "All of Us Would Walk Together: A History of the Transition from Slavery to Freedom in St. Mary's City"Online digital exhibit, Historic St. Mary's City Commission *, including aerial photo from 1987, at Maryland Historical Trust
Boundary map of the St. Mary's City Historic District, St. Mary's County
at Maryland Historical Trust
"Brick Chapel at St. Mary's City stands as a landmark of religious freedom," ''My Catholic Standard,'' by Mark Zimmermann, July 22, 2010.A Guide to the History of Slavery in Maryland
narrative online history, prepared by the Maryland State Archives
Mary Carter Roberts papers
at the
University of Maryland libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an o ...
. Contain correspondence between Roberts and the St. Mary's City Commission. {{authority control Province of Maryland Archaeological sites in St. Mary's County, Maryland 1634 establishments in Maryland Populated places established in 1634 Former colonial and territorial capitals in the United States National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Museums in St. Mary's County, Maryland Open-air museums in Maryland Living museums in Maryland Protected areas of St. Mary's County, Maryland English-American culture in Maryland History of slavery in Maryland History museums in Maryland Historic districts in St. Mary's County, Maryland Populated places in colonial Maryland Unincorporated communities in St. Mary's County, Maryland National Register of Historic Places in St. Mary's County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland