It’s the 26th, and though the 25th is usually Maryland Day, it fell on a weekend and so it is observed today.
To celebrate, we have a picture of St. Clements Island, where the first settlers came to Maryland aboard aboard the ships, the Ark and the Dove.
He’s watching you.
Our friend today comes from just outside the St. Clement’s Island Museum in St. Mary’s.
While the name Dory can be used for a lot of different boats, this boat from the St. Clements Island Museum is a member of the specific type of boat known as the potomac dory. Most dory boats are made of long wide planks of wood with a relatively flat bottom. The potomac Dory was unique partially because it’s planks ran from bow to stern rather than across the beam. This boat, named the Doris C, was refurbished with the help of prison labor and it can be viewed by anyone who wishes to make the trip to Colton’s point.
For more information, you can view the historic marker about the boat. Or see the planking of the boat in the pictures below.
Taken at the same cemetery as yesterday’s shot, I thought that this monument stood out and interested me, though I can’t say why. This is also a teaser shot as tomorrow we’ll discuss the significance of the building behind the monument.
We’re going to take a break from the cherry blossoms to go back to St Mary’s College. This building, as is a trend on campus, is named after a former governor. The buildings architecture seems to be purposefully made to resemble the older buildings of the area.
Today’s “Frieze Frame” comes from the fine arts ceter in St Mary’s College. St Mary’s College is located in and throughout wat was formerly the first city and the capitol of Maryland.
On March 25, 1634 the first colonists in Maryland, led by Leonard Calvert, brother of the second lord Baltimore and Governor of Maryland, arrived in the Potomac river and disembarked on this island. To mark this occasion, this day, the 25th of March, is an official state holiday, Maryland Day.
Though the colonists would end up spending most of the next few days living aboard their ships, when they arrived on the 25th they moved onto this island to celebrate a religious ceremony, the feast of the annunciation. As the sign pictured reads, this was a Catholic ceremony and this event is today commemorated by the large cross on the island. (placed there in the 20th century)
The colonists arrived aboard two ships, one large one called, The Ark of London, and a smaller ship called the Dove. The trip was full of misfortunes, which I’ll let you read about here. The island was named St. Clements island,in honor of St Clement, who watches over mariners, and whose feast day was the same day that the Ark and the Dove left England.
There is no official count of how many colonists were aboard the two boats, but experts put it between 95 and 150. This group would eventually move just a few miles south of the island and found St. Mary’s City, which would serve as the capitol of Maryland.
St. Clement’s is literally an island. In the winter months there is no ferry service, and it actually starts this weekend as part of a celebration of Maryland day. In the mean time, I have only these pictures from the shoreline.
This schoolhouse from the early 18th century stands on the banks of the Potomac in St. Mary’s county. It was moved to its current location in the early 90′s and restored for visitors. It is very close to a point of significance in Maryland history. That point, which has nothing to do with the schoolhouse other than a shared geographic location, is the reason why we are dedicating this week’s posts to southern Maryland and it will be revealed tomorrow.
