Take a step back in time at Maryland’s first capitol city.
The Plymouth (the Pilgrims) and the Massachusetts Bay Colony were each founded to protect two different sects of Puritanism, which in itself an off shoot of Anglicanism. Maryland was the exact opposite. The Colony of Maryland was set up for religious freedom, the first in the new world. The Catholic Lord Baltimore (the English at this time really hated Catholics) asked to form a new colony for Catholics, although Catholics never formed the majority in Colonial Maryland. He picked a spot mapped by John Smith (of Jamestown fame) mapped about three decades prior.
Twelve years after the founding of the Plymouth Colony and about thirty years after the founding of Jamestown, the Colony of Maryland was founded on the St. Mary’s River, a tidal river that leads to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. St. Mary’s City (named after the Queen Consort of Charles I) was founded on March 27, 1634.
Google Maps St. Mary’s City, on the St. Mary River, which leads to the Potomac River, which leads to the Chesapeake Bay, which leads to the Atlantic Ocean. Maryland is weird.
Maryland was founded by Lord Baltimore’s second son, Leonard Calvert. He brought with him over 300 people, both protestants and Catholics, to settle the new colony. Their settlement was purely an agricultural one, unlike the urban merchant town of New Amsterdam (later New York City). St. Mary’s City was supposed to be a planned city with citizens living toward the center of the city and farm fields scattered about outside of the main settlement. It didn’t quite work out that way. The settlers liked living in larger farms outside of town (Jamestown eventually became like this, too), leaving St. Mary’s City with a very small permanent population.
St. Mary’s City stayed the capitol of Maryland until it was moved to Annapolis in 1695. By then, most of the religious toleration was gone, with protestants removing Catholic settlers’ rights. After the seat of government left, there was no reason for St. Mary’s City to remain a town. Within a few short years, much of the former town was lost to farm fields.
Today, Historic St. Mary’s City has recreated Maryland’s first capitol by excavating and learning about the settlement. Many buildings have since been rebuilt, making the town into a living history museum with costumed interpreters telling the story of the inhabitants of early Maryland. Honestly, I was very impressed at what I found.
The outdoor museum starts at a recreated Yaocomico hamlet. The Yaocomico were leaving the area of St. Mary’s City because of raids and “sold” the land to the new settlers which used the houses of an abandoned town.
A partially reconstructed Yaocomico witchott (house) and garden.
A fully rebuilt witchott.
The interior of the witchott had beds for sleeping and lots of shelving.
The path continues toward the reconstructed 1667 Catholic Church. It was rebuilt on the remains of the original church, which was the first church in Maryland. The design is very similar to other churches of this time built all over Europe. While it wasn’t an official design of the Jesuits, most Jesuit churches look like this one.
They don’t know how the church was decorated but it looked similar to this. Archaeologists found white plaster on the interior walls. It’s pretty fancy for such a small settlement. It even had imported stone floors.
Three lead coffins were found under the church floor during excavations in 1990. It is believed that they contained the remains of Calvert family.
This is one of the oldest wooden barns in Maryland. The Mackall Barn was built 1785 by one the families that moved into the area after St. Mary’s City was abandoned. The barn was often used to dry tobacco or store grain.
Cordea’s Hope was used as a general store for goods that arrived by ships.
Shelves full of goods. My favorite item was a giant lock and key for a door.
The ruins of the Calvert House, the house of the Leonard Calvert. Only the double fireplaces still survive today. The house was the largest in the colony and often served as a place for the colony’s Assembly to meet.
Smith’s Ordinary, a useful person to have in a colony.
Nice little house with the guns conveniently located above the dining table.
It wouldn’t be a smith’s house without a giant walk-in fireplace.
The Print House. Maryland had the first printer in the English colonies.
It contains a working replica press. The table in the corner contains all the type.
St. Mary’s City is located in a great place. I can see why they picked this area, which is fairly high elevation waterfront land for Maryland.
Van Sweringen’s Inn was a much-needed lodging house for the town since many of the settlers had moved a distance away for farming. Some of the early homes featured some brick walls and chimneys. The Calvert House had a brick front as well.
St. Mary’s City even had a coffee house, the first one in the Chesapeake region! Coffee houses in the 17th century were fashionable places to talk, drink and smoke. Many of the homes and buildings found by archaeologists and not rebuilt are signified by the timber frames. A really cool idea.
Reconstruction of the Maryland Dove, one of the two ships that brought the first settlers to Maryland.
Farthing’s Ordinary, now the gift shop. Sadly, there weren’t any magnets.
The 1934 reconstruction of the first state house of Maryland. The Assembly eventually moved out the Calvert house and into the brick state house.
Simple and functional.
The bricks from the original state house were used to construct Trinity Church in 1829.
Random ground hog in the cemetery.
Another one of the timber-framed houses.
A little outside of the historic St. Mary’s City is the Godiah Spray Tobacco Plantation.
The farm had some heirloom animals, similar breeds as the settlers would have had, like these Red Devon Cows.
Tobacco curing barn. Tobacco leaves would have been hung from the rafters.
The chicken on the right has quite a do.
Plantation home with a kitchen garden.
A fireplace suitable for cooking. The museum does cooking demonstrations here.
Period furniture was always functional. Stools or benches were commonly used at dining tables instead of chairs.
A very functional storeroom with dirt floors.
A simple sharecroppers’ house.
Very, very simple home.
Historic St. Mary’s City is a fantastic living history museum that introduces you to early America. Unlike Colonial Williamsburg and Plimoth Plantation, Historic St. Mary’s City is far from commercialized, giving the museum a refreshing feel. Whether you attend a program, listen to the interpreters or just wander around on your own, Historic St. Mary’s City is great and I’m glad I went.
Check out my next update where I visit George Washington’s Mount Vernon!
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