St. Mary's City, Maryland
St Mary's City, Maryland | |
|---|---|
"The State House", a reconstruction of the original 1676 Maryland Statehouse, Maryland's first capitol building and also the home of the Maryland colonial assembly, which stands near the original site. | |
| Coordinates: 38°11′21″N 76°25′56″W / 38.18917°N 76.43222°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Maryland |
| County | St. Mary's |
| Founded | March 27, 1634 |
| Founded by | Leonard Calvert |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.20000 sq mi (3.10799 km2) |
| • Land | 1.10000 sq mi (2.84899 km2) |
| • Water | 0.100000 sq mi (0.258999 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 933 year round residents plus about 1,400 student residents during spring and fall semesters |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | eastern (Americas) |
| ZIP code | 20686 |
Birthplace of religious freedom in North America with the passage of the Maryland Act of Toleration in 1649. The first place where a (possibly) African American person, Mathias De Sousa, served in an assembly as a voting legislator and first place where a woman, Margaret Brent, petitioned (unsuccessfully) for the right to vote. | |
St. Mary's City Historic District | |
St. Mary's City Historic District: Reconstructed 1667 Catholic Church, built on site of the original Jesuit mission church in the St. Mary's City colonial settlement, Maryland's first colony. HSMC, July 2009 | |
| Nearest city | St. Mary's City, Maryland |
| Built | c. 1667. Rebuilt 2009. |
| NRHP reference No. | 69000310 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 4, 1969 |
| Designated NHLD | August 4, 1969 |
St. Mary's City (also known as Historic St. Mary's City) is a former colonial town that was founded in March 1634, as Maryland's first European settlement and capital. It is now a state-run historic area, which includes a reconstruction of the original colonial settlement and a designated living history venue and museum complex. Half the area is occupied by the campus of St. Mary's College of Maryland. The entire area contains a community of about 933 permanent residents and some 1,400 students living in campus dorms and apartments.
The city is an unincorporated community under Maryland state law and is located in southern St. Mary's County, which occupies the southernmost tip of the state on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay. The community is bordered by the St. Mary's River, a short, brackish-water tidal tributary of the Potomac River, near where it empties into the Chesapeake.
St. Mary's City is the historic site of the founding of the Colony of Maryland—then called the Province of Maryland—where it served as the colonial capital from 1634 until 1695. The original settlement is the fourth oldest permanent English settlement in the United States.
Notably, St. Mary's City is the earliest site of religious freedom being established in the United States, as it is the first North American colonial settlement established with a specific mandate of providing haven for people of both Catholic and Protestant Christian faiths.
It is also an internationally recognized archaeological research area and training center for archaeologists, and is home to the Historical Archaeology Field School. There have been over 200 archeological digs in St. Mary's City over the last 30 years. Archaeological research continues in the city.