Southern Maryland Tourism
Southern Maryland Tourism on MarylandBeautiful.com. Southern Maryland Tourism Regions - your Southern Maryland Travel Guide to Vacations, Attractions and Events
St. Clement's Island Attractions - Coltons Point, Maryland
Things to do on St. Clement's Island in Coltons Point, Maryland. Located in Coltons Point, Maryland, the St. Clement's Island State Park has a ton of wonderful things to offer all of its visitors. Many consider the island to be the "birthplace of Maryland." In the mid-1600s two ships, The Ark and The Dove, landed on the island and named it St. Clement after the patron saint of mariners. This was the beginning of the Maryland colony.
A City Full of American Beginnings
St. Mary’s City at the southernmost end of Maryland’s western shore is a place bursting with some of America’s greatest “firsts”. Founded in 1634 by a group of English settlers the city is known to be the birthplace of religious tolerance, the first place in America where a woman demanded the right to vote, it is the first official city in the history of Maryland, it was home to first printer in the southern colonies of America and it was the first successful proprietary colony in the United States, meaning that the charter to the land and the city was in private ownership, but the colony itself prospered.
So why haven’t many people heard of this amazing place? It is because an uprising against Lord Baltimore, the chartered owner of the colony, resulted in a set of royally appointed governors who relocated the capital to Annapolis. This was actually a fortunate event for historians and archaeologists as it left much of the cities’ original design and planning untouched and undisturbed from the seventeenth century.
Today, St. Mary’s City is a National Historic Landmark and home to Historic St. Mary’s City, a museum and archaeological excavation site. With over five million artifacts currently cataloged the museum and grounds are an ideal spot for individuals and families interested in colonial America, as well as early Maryland, to plan a visit.
Costumed interpreters roam the city, recreating and telling the stories of the colony and life in early America. There are many hands-on displays and activities, special events and reconstructed buildings and scenes from St. Mary’s City’s past. Visitors can tour the State House, a working colonial farm and tobacco plantation, a supplies shop and even a Native American settlement that teaches about interactions and events between settlers and Maryland’s first residents. Visitors will also meet sailors and talk about the tobacco trade aboard the “Maryland Dove,” a replica of a square-rigged ship of the day.
Historic St. Mary’s City is not just a traveler’s destination it is also a working field school for historians and archaeologists, where excavations are constantly taking place and new discoveries being made. For example, excavations have unearthed the original print shop belonging to William Nuthead of Virginia who was forced to leave and relocate in St. Mary’s City where the general sense of open-minded acceptance allowed him to practice a trade forbidden in many colonies. A living history exhibit and reconstruction of the shop is planned for this significant discovery.
The entire museum is open for visitors from March through November, with many special events taking place throughout the year.
