St Mary's City Tourist Attractions
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Right on the southern tip of the west side of Chesapeake Bay, St Mary's was founded by English settlers in 1634. Today an open-air museum brings the past to life.The Ark and the Dove sailed into the mouth of St Mary's River carrying the colonists under the royal charter of Lord Baltimore.
Historic St Mary's City
Historic St Mary's City is a recreated 17th century village with a reconstructed State House of 1676, Smith's Ordinary, and the Godiah Spray Tobacco Plantation, a working colonial farm. St Mary's was the site of the fourth permanent settlement in British North America, and Maryland's first capital. This 500-acre open-air museum features costumed interpreters, hands-on activities, archaeological sites under excavation as well as interpretive signage, an audio tour, and a museum.
Old State House
The State House of 1676 is a recreation of the first public buildings in Maryland. The State House is where colonial laws were made and where justice was handed down. The original site of the 1676 State House is marked in the churchyard of Trinity Church, opposite the reconstruction.
Godiah Spray Tobacco Plantation
Visit the Spray family's tobacco plantation highlighting life in 1661. Visitors can see the animals, smell herbs from the garden, ponder the many 17th-century uses of tobacco, and try a few chores.
Maryland Dove
Located on the water behind the Old State House, the Maryland Dove is a replica of the square-rigged ship from the 1630s that brought settlers to Maryland.
Leonard Calvert Monument
The Leonard Calvert Monument stands on the site where Leonard Calvert signed a treaty with the Yaocomico Indian King while buying land for the young colony.
Trinity Church
Trinity Church is adjacent to Historic St. Mary's City. Built in 1829, bricks from the original State House were used to build the Church.
