Maryland Daily PhotoEvery Week Day a New Picture from MD

Just a picture of some trees on the western side of the coastal bays, across from Ocean City.

This is the Egyptian movie theater in the Arundel Mills mall.   The mall itself is unique for a number of reasons.  First there are so many anchor stores that it’s almost overwhelming.   The mall is shaped like an oval with various big name retailers interspersed around the “track.”  This was a common feature of the malls owned by the former Mills Corporation.  More anchors meant that there were more spaces close to an anchor store and that means more rent from the general retailers.    The mills was also a mall owner that strove to provide a “retail experience.”    The Egyptian theater in Arundel Mills seems like the perfect example. It was, after all, just a movie theater.  However, they dressed it up and put all sorts of las vegas-esque decorations and turned it into something just a little different.    The Maryland based Mills corporation met with some unfortunate circumstances in the period from 2005 to 2007 and the company was purchased by Simon, another mall operator based out of the mid west.

The church featured in yesterday’s post was Christ Church in Chaptico, MD in St. Mary’s county.  It’s significant to the state’s history for a few reasons.

Most notably it was built with government funds.  When we discussed the landing on St. Clement’s Island that brought the first settlers to Maryland, it was clear that they were Catholic.  Just about 60 years later, the Maryland government would pass a law making the anglican church the official church of Maryland.  That same law would divide the state into 30 parishes, each with a church.  You can see the list here. The building pictured here was built in 1736 and is one of the few remaining from the period.

Other than serving as a reminder of a time when state sanctioned religion was a common practice, the building plays another role in our history.  During the war of 1812, the church became well known after the British ransacked it, breaking windows, looting, and just being generally disrespectful.

There are two significant things about the buildings construction.  The brick pattern is “flemish bond:” a pattern where the long and short ends of the bricks alternate order.  In the same row.    This is easier to build though not as strong as an English bond brick or an American bond brick.  (English bond alternates rows of the short ends followed by rows of long sides while American bond is what we usually see today with nothing but the long side of the brick showing.)  Flemish bond  is typical of older St. Mary’s county architecture.   You can’t read about this building without reading about the bricks, so I’m including it here.

Finally the second important fact about the building’s construction.  Who could have been responsible for laying those bricks?  The construction was managed by Philip Key, the grandfather of F.S. Key.

For more info, you can check out the Maryland Historical Trust’s website about the church.  (this is also my way of telling you that I got most of this information from their page, though I took alot from the sign outside the church too)

http://www.mht.maryland.gov/nr/NRDetail.aspx?HDID=1123&COUNTY=Saint%20Marys&FROM=NRCountyList.aspx?COUNTY=Saint%20Marys

I Found this marker placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in a graveyard in St. Mary’s County.  The person of significance in this case is unfortunately difficult to find.  The older graves in this cemetery are difficult to read and some are hidden entirely from view.   This sent me on a search through the wilds of the internet to gather more information.  It turns out there are more chapters of the DAR in Maryland than you might think, most of which have a website.  The website of the chapter from St.Mary’s, named after Major William Thomas, even lists all of the patriots cataloged by the chapter.   You can start your own trip through the history of Maryland’s Patriots here: http://www.dar.org/natsociety/chapters.cfm?State=MD