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St. Marys City Historic District
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St. Mary's City Historic District, Reconstructed Catholic Church, July 2009
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| Nearest city: | St. Mary's City, Maryland |
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| Built: | 1634 |
| Governing body: | State |
| NRHP Reference#: |
69000310 [1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | August 4, 1969 |
| Designated NHLD: | August 4, 1969[2] |
St. Mary's City, in St. Mary's County, Maryland, is a small unincorporated community near the southernmost end of the state on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.[3] It is located on the eastern shore of the St. Mary's River, a tributary of the Potomac. St. Mary's City is the fourth oldest permanent settlement in British North America. It is considered the birthplace of religious tolerance in the United States, as the colony passed the Maryland Toleration Act (1649).
A section of the community, Historic St. Mary's City, was declared a National Historic Landmark on August 4, 1969.[2][4][5]
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St. Mary's City was founded in 1634 by a group of English settlers. They arrived on the ships Dove and Ark. Leonard Calvert, one of the Barons Baltimore and a Roman Catholic, led the group of settlers. Originally land in the colony was given to Leonard's father George Calvert by King James I, but the senior Calvert died before the claim was established.
The original St. Mary's was laid out according to a Baroque town plan, but most residents of St. Mary's City preferred to live on their tobacco plantations in the surrounding countryside. The settlement was meant to be the capital of the new Maryland Colony. A Yaocomico village had formerly occupied the location, but the Tayac Kittimundiq, paramount chief of the Piscataway nation, ordered the village cleared and gave it to the English newcomers. He wanted to develop them as allies and trading partners. For some time, the Piscataway, their tributary tribes, and the English coexisted peacefully.
In the second half of the 17th century, St. Mary's City had an economic boom due to successful tobacco farming, which was the most important export commodity. An increasing town population contributed to the desire for constructing public buildings, some of which were a state house, a Jesuit chapel, a jail, and an inn.[6]
During and after the English Civil War, fights between Protestants and Catholics developed in the colonies as well. In 1689, the religious tensions became so great that Protestant settlers revolted against the Lords Baltimore. The English Crown took over the Maryland colony and appointed royal governors.
Maryland governor Sir Francis Nicholson relocated the capital from St. Mary's to the more central Annapolis in 1695. The colonial statehouse in St. Mary's was turned into a Protestant church the same year.
The town lost its reason to exist. Remaining inhabitants were mostly farmers. The former town center was converted to agricultural land, and archaeological remains were undisturbed in the ground. The smaller farms were consolidated into a large plantation which operated through the 19th century. Much of the historic area remained under a single property owner well into the 20th century. By the mid-20th century, few 17th-century buildings still stood. The town center site appeared to be farmland with a few private residences, and an expanding school that would become St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Present-day St. Mary's City is primarily the location of St. Mary's College and the Historic St. Mary's City museums. The museum complex is staffed by archaeologists. It includes a visitor center/museum building, outdoor living history exhibits, reconstructed colonial buildings, the St. John's site museum, and a working 17th-century-style farm. This complex, developed to interpret the site for visitors, was created after Historic St. Mary's was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1969.[4]
St. Mary's City is known for its archaeological sites. The digs began in 1971,[7] and that year, a museum was established. Since then, much of the old city has been found.
Some important discoveries include:
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