St. Mary's City
Maryland's first capital, on a quiet tributary of the Potomac.
- Founded
- March 27, 1634
- Capital
- About 61 years
- Toleration Act
- 1649
Then
- 1634
Leonard Calvert's colonists arrive on the Ark and the Dove and found St. Mary's City, the fourth permanent English settlement in America.
- 1640s
Margaret Brent becomes the first known woman in English America to ask for a vote in an assembly. She is refused.
- 1649
The Maryland Toleration Act becomes the first law requiring religious tolerance among Christians.
- 1695
The capital moves to Annapolis, and the town fades.
Now
Historic St. Mary's City runs four museums, a reconstructed Dove and ongoing archaeology. Half of the colonial town lies under St. Mary's College of Maryland.
The St. Marys River is a short tidal tributary near the mouth of the Potomac; Cornfield Harbor and the Virginia shore at Lewisetta round out this stretch.
10 tide stations around St. Mary's City
- Piney Point, Md.6.7 mi
- Solomons Island9.0 mi
- Cornfield Harbor, Md.9.6 mi
- Ragged Point, Coles Neck, Va.10.4 mi
- Point Lookout11.7 mi
- Travis Point, Coan River, Va.13.3 mi
- Lewisetta, Va.13.3 mi
- Kinsale, Yeocomico River, Va.13.3 mi
- Colton Point, Md.17.4 mi
- Mount Holly, Nomini Creek, Va.17.6 mi