St. Mary's College of Maryland Preservation Master Plan

St. Mary’s College of MarylandPreservation Master PlanHistoric St. Mary’s City February 2008In the meantime, an influx of Protestants from Virginia,coupled with the flight of some Catholics from Maryland,meant that Protestants remained in the majority among thecolony’s population. In 1649, Lord Baltimore persuaded theAssembly to pass “An Act concerning Religion,” which legallyestablished a policy of freedom of religion for all Christiandenominations, and protected the rights of the Catholicreligious minority. This act made Calvert and his colony amagnet for further hostilities from their enemies. In March1652, William Claiborne and Parliamentary allies raided St.Mary’s City, where they quickly deposed the Calvert leadersand replaced them with Puritans in an effort to enforceloyalty to England’s Puritan sovereigns. The TolerationAct of 1649 was voided, and both Catholics and Anglicanswere persecuted for their beliefs. Maryland’s capital wasmoved north. Tensions culminated in March 1655, whenformer Maryland officials and others loyal to Lord Baltimoreengaged in open warfare with the Puritans in the Battle of theSevern. The horrors of this event prompted a review of thesituation by Oliver Cromwell, who upheld Lord Baltimore’scharter rights over those of Claiborne and his supporters.Lord Baltimore signed a peace treaty with his Virginiaadversaries, and reaffirmed the Act of Tolerance, providingsanctuary and religious freedom to Quakers, Catholics,Anglicans, and Puritans alike (Fausz 1990:15-17).The Growth of St. Mary’s CityBy 1660 the colony was entering a time of relative peaceand prosperity, and St. Mary’s City, restored to its positionas the capital, grew into a thriving small settlement. It neverbecame a major city or port, but did experience a periodof sustained growth. Prior to 1660, only two substantialpermanent buildings are known to have been constructed:Leonard Calvert’s house (ca. 1635-1636), later called “theCountry’s House,” and “St. John’s” (ca. 1638), the home ofJohn Lewger, Secretary of State. Government businesswas conducted in these houses, which were expensivetimber-framed structures with stone foundations (Miller2003:232-234). Other early buildings, including an inn, mill,forge, common chapel, and several dwellings, were framepost-in-ground structures that eventually fell victim to fireor rot. The city was incorporated in 1668 by Cecil Calvert,and after this point, a number of more permanent buildingsarose, including inns, businesses, and public buildings. Themost impressive structures were constructed of brick andincluded a Catholic chapel (ca. 1672), a prison (1676), theState House (1676), and a school (1677) (Fausz 1990:17-18).The chapel, a cruciform brick structure believed to be the firstmajor brick building in Maryland, was located on the east sideof Rt. 5 at the site of an earlier chapel, and was surroundedPage 2-5