St. Mary's College of Maryland Preservation Master Plan

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St. Mary’s College of MarylandPreservation Master PlanHistoric St. Mary’s City February 2008study and interpretation of Maryland’s first capital city. Itsaddition to the Campus Facilities Plan created a proposalto replace Anne Arundel Hall and Margaret Brent Hall witha village-scale quadrangle to house a Maryland HeritageInterpretive Center and an academic building housing thosefields of study most relevant to area history, such as history,international languages and culture, and anthropology. Newarcheological facilities for Historic St. Mary’s City would alsobe included in the quadrangle. An additional component ofthe Maryland Heritage Project is a new Student ServicesBuilding, to be constructed on the North Campus. CalvertHall is to be renovated as an interdisciplinary academicfacility to house academic programs relating to interpretationof the history of St. Mary’s City. Within the property heldby Historic St. Mary’s City, the Maryland Heritage Project isengaging in numerous site development projects, includinglandscaping and interpretive facilities for the Town Lands.An exhibit center for the St. John’s House archeological siteis currently under construction (Maryland Heritage Project2000; St. Mary’s College 2006).Today, the College includes a student body of 1,823 menand women and remains true to its roots as a small publicinstitution providing a strong liberal arts and scienceseducation on par with that offered by elite private schools.Steeped in history and surrounded by important artifactsof the past, it continues to educate today’s students in anatmosphere of intellectual rigor and with creative approachesto learning (St. Mary’s College [2007]).Research undertaken for the preparation of this reportrevealed some gaps in the more recent history of the College.Identification of these topics has spawned new interest indocumenting the many changes and planning initiativesof the 1960s onward, which remain largely unwritten. Itis recommended that the College prepare an update orsupplement to the 1990 Fausz history of the College, whichwould further explore the relationship between the Collegeand the Commission/Historic St. Mary’s City, the historyand efficacy of various master plans for both organizationsduring the last three decades of the twentieth century,and the context of St. Mary’s College of Maryland in theincreasingly competitive world of higher education seen atthe present time.Historic St. Mary’s CityThe original State House at St. Mary’s City was perhaps thebest-known of the many vanished buildings that once stoodon the site. Designed by John Quigley, a merchant andbuilder (Hammett 1990:45), the original State House wasPage 2-33
St. Mary’s College of MarylandPreservation Master PlanHistoric St. Mary’s City February 2008a cruciform brick building completed in 1676. A descriptionof its appearance and plan, taken from the highly detailedbuilding specifications of the Act authorizing its constructionin 1674, outlines an imposing edifice with two stories:That there be a state house and Prison built att the Cittyof S t Maries the said state house and Prison to be built ofbrick or stone with lime & sand and to be Covered withSlate or tile laid in Morter ...the Stairecase to have adoor to open out of the hall of the same demensions anda private doore to open into the garden… the windowsof the Hall which shall be Eight In number with doublelights divided with a transome att two thirds of the hightof the said windows… and the windoes of the [second]story two foote & half wide & five foote high with doublelights to be divided with a Transome att two thirds oftheir height which said windoes in the second story shallbe eight in number as in the first story directly over thewindows of the first story besides one in the second storyin the Porch … that there be three particons [partitions]in the second story as the Governour shall direct the saidparticons …the floores to be laid with quartered planckinch & quarter thick after plained either good white Okeor Pine of this Countrey … the doores all bottened withgood substanciall hinges Spring stock locks & Latchestwo Iron Casements to every window in the said housethe frames and Casements to be well laid in LynseedeOyle according to art and glased with good Cleer squareglasse…& the feete of the Rafters to Jett over a foote &halfe on each side with Basboards att the Gable Ends& Piramedes [hip roofs] the whole house to be wellplaistered within & the Roofes well sealed & the wallswell pointed without with good lime (Maryland StateArchives 2006:129-131).The building was to be 45 feet long and 38 feet wide, with aporch projection in front facing the river, and a stair tower atthe rear, with gardens behind. The first floor would containthe Assembly Room, and the second floor would containthree smaller rooms with partitions placed in locationsas directed by the Governor. Archeological evidencediscovered in 1933 indicated that the building was actuallyconstructed eight inches longer than specified in the Act(Forman 1938:286-287).Page 2-34The original State House appears to have suffered fromconstruction defects even before it was finished. HenryChandlee Forman’s research indicates that CaptainQuigley, the builder, apparently had difficulty following thespecifications and failed to deliver the building as promised.
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St. Mary's College of Maryland Preservation Master Plan

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