Old St. Paul's Parish

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In 1692, the Church of England became the established church of the Maryland colony through an Act of the General Assembly. Ten counties had been established in the colony, and those counties were divided into 30 parishes. When Prince George’s County was created in 1696, two parishes had already been established within its boundaries: St. Paul’s Parish in the area which had been part of Calvert County, and Piscataway (or King George’s) Parish in the area which had been part of Charles County.^[1]^[2]

In 1704, St. Paul’s Parish was divided by the General Assembly and the northern part became Queen Anne Parish.^[3]^[4]

[edit] Churches

The first church, was a log cabin structure on the banks of Colgate Creek near present-day Dundalk in southeast Baltimore County.^{[citation needed]} By the 1720s it became clear that the major population center of the colony would be further north and west, so the Maryland Assembly was called upon to lay out what they termed 'Baltimore Town.'

At this time the parish vestry purchased a lot for a new church building in the newly-formed village. This site was a choice piece of property encompassing the highest point overlooking the harbor. The current church occupies the northwestern-most corner of this original parcel. So it was that the second church building of St. Paul's Parish was constructed in the 1730s.^{[citation needed]}