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“We have seated ourselves, within one half mile of the river, within a pallizado of one hundred and twentie yarde square, with four flankes, we have mounted one peece of ordnance, and placed six murderers in parts most convenient; a fortification (we thinke) sufficient to defend against any such weak enemies as we have reason to expect here”
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- Letter from Governor Leonard Calvert to Sir Richard Lechford, 30 May 1634
Quick Stats
NAME
St. Mary’s Fort
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Founding site of colonial Maryland
CONSTRUCTION DATE
Spring/summer of 1634
SIZE
312′ × 177′/ 104 × 59 yards / 1.25 acres
DATES OF OCCUPANCY
1634–1642/1643
NUMBER OF OCCUPANTS
140–160 colonists in 1634, more than 200 at peak occupancy
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EXCAVATED AREA
<2%
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SIGNIFICANCE
St. Mary's Fort represented the first major foothold of European settlement in Maryland. Its discovery and interpretation is critical to understanding the earliest period of colonial life in the state, a period that is not well-documented historically or archaeologically. This discovery also offers the opportunity to reflect on the nature of historical colonialism in Maryland and its continuing effects in today’s world.
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