Historic St. Mary’s City

Historic St. Mary’s City
Name	Historic St. Mary’s City
Caption	Reconstructed colonial-era buildings at St. Mary's City
Location	St. Mary’s County, Maryland, United States
Built	1634
Governing body	St. Mary's College of Maryland

Historic St. Mary’s City is an open-air museum and archaeological site located on the site of the original 17th-century colonial capital of the Province of Maryland. Founded where English colonists led by Leonard Calvert and Lord Baltimore first settled, the site interprets the intersection of Jamestown-era colonization, Anglicanism and Catholicism in early North American history. The landscape preserves material evidence tied to the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, and the transatlantic Atlantic slave trade.

History

St. Mary’s City was established in 1634 by Cecilius Calvert under a charter from Charles I as the capital of the Province of Maryland (colonial); settlers included figures linked to George Calvert, Toleration Act (1649), and patrons of the Colonial America project. During the 17th century the town interacted with neighboring polities such as the Piscataway and colonists from New Sweden and Virginia Company. Political crises tied to the English Interregnum, Cromwell, and the Protestant Revolution in Maryland reshaped the capital’s role relative to Annapolis and Baltimore. By the 18th century, commercial ties reached London, Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Havana, and the site’s economy connected to the Middle Passage and planters who participated in the Atlantic World networks.

Archaeology and Preservation

Archaeological work at the site began with surveys led by scholars associated with St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Smithsonian Institution, Maryland Historical Trust, and teams affiliated with University of Maryland. Excavations recovered artifacts tied to Maryland Colonial Period households, including ceramics comparable to examples from Westerwald pottery, Staffordshire pottery, and Delftware found at Colonial Williamsburg. Fieldwork used methods popularized in projects at Jamestown Rediscovery and compared to excavations at Plymouth Colony. Preservation efforts have involved collaboration with National Park Service, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and private organizations modeled on practice from Historic Charleston Foundation and Preservation Virginia. Studies published in journals like American Antiquity, Historical Archaeology, and William and Mary Quarterly informed public interpretation and conservation of features such as palisades, cellars, and middens.

Museum and Living History Programs

The museum complex operates with reenactment and interpretation practices similar to Colonial Williamsburg, Plimoth Patuxet, and Old Sturbridge Village. Programming explores figures such as Margaret Brent, Thomas Gerard, and Charles Calvert through costumed interpreters, craft demonstrations, and experimental archaeology drawn from protocols at Living History Museums and sites like Fort Ticonderoga. Curatorial collaboration includes loans and comparative exhibits with Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, and artifacts on exchange with Maryland Historical Society. Educational outreach partners include Smithsonian Education and National Endowment for the Humanities grant programs.

Architecture and Notable Sites

Reconstructed buildings and remnants at the site reference architectural forms found in 17th-century English architecture, including the Collegiate Gothic influences found later at nearby St. John’s College campuses. Notable reconstructions include a Brick Chapel site, a governor’s house comparable to documented dwellings of William Claiborne, and household sites reflecting planters’ houses analogous to examples at Southern plantation museums. Landscape features include a tobacco inspection house analog, palisaded fortifications, and cemetery areas whose osteological remains have informed studies like those at Jamestown and Horton Bay. Comparison to historic sites such as Mount Vernon, Monticello, and Montpelier informs interpretive signage.

Education and Research

Academic programs based at the site partner with St. Mary’s College of Maryland, UMBC, Johns Hopkins University, Towson University, and international scholars from University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and University of Leiden. Research projects span themes in Atlantic history, material culture studies, and diaspora scholarship, linking to databases maintained by Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR), SIRIS, and projects funded by National Science Foundation and NEH. Graduate internships and field schools mirror models at Institute of Archaeology (UCL) and Williamsburg Archaeology Field School, contributing to theses archived in the Maryland State Archives and collections cataloged by the Maryland Center for History and Culture.

Events and Tourism

Annual events attract visitors through seasonal programs, regattas, and commemorations aligned with the Maryland Day celebrations and broader tourism promoted by Visit Maryland and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Special events include lectures featuring scholars from Omohundro Institute, performances in partnership with the Schola Cantorum of Baltimore, and heritage festivals that connect with descendant communities from African American and Piscataway lineages. Visitor amenities coordinate with St. Mary’s County tourism routes and regional attractions such as Assateague Island National Seashore, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and Antietam National Battlefield.

Category:Museums in Maryland Category:Historic sites in Maryland