Tour the Growing Colony | Exploring Life in St. Mary’s City
In this interactive, students will explore the colonial capital of Maryland as it may have looked in 1685. St. Mary’s City had grown and changed in the 50 years since its colonization. In the years right after the English came in 1634, the "city" was a small fort with a mix of simple wooden buildings and Yaocomico witchotts. By the 1680s, it had large tobacco plantations, a dedicated state house, a brick chapel, and planned streets.
The buildings and locations on this map are based on real archaeology and research, and represent the economic, civic, religious, and domestic life of English colonists in Maryland. Prompt students to think about how different locations represented those different aspects of life, and how geography shaped life for colonists in the city, including how they used natural resources and waterways.