THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF 

 ST. MARY'S COUNTY 



INTRODUCTION 



St. Mary's County comprises, with Anne Arundel, Prince George's, 

 Charles, and Calvert counties, what is commonly known as Southern 

 Maryland and is the most southern county of the group. It is located 

 between the parallels 38° 2' and 38° 31' north latitude and the meridians 

 76° 19' and 76° 53' west longitude and covers an area of 369.1 square 

 miles. St. Mary's was the first county established. No record of the 

 date of its erection exists, since its jurisdiction at first was co-existent 

 with that of the Province. The first evidence of its existence as a county 

 is the appointment of a sherifi: in January, 1637-8, at the same time a 

 sheriif was commissioned for the Isle of Kent, which for a time was 

 known as a " Himdred " of St. Mary's County. Four years later, 1642, 

 a county court was established on Kent Island and the jurisdiction of 

 St. Mary's was limited to the Western shore. Settlements at the time 

 were only along the shores of the Potomac and Patuxent rivers and thus 

 in reality the extent of St. Mary's County was about the same as to-day, 

 although technically it may have included all of southern, central and 

 western Maryland. 



In 16.50 Anne Arundel and old Charles counties were erected out of 

 this larger territory to accommodate the new settlement on the Severn 

 and the growing one on the Patuxent. By 1654 old Charles County was 

 changed to Calvert County, which then included the inhabitants on both 

 sides of the Patuxent. St. Mary's County was thus restricted to the 

 settlements along the Potomac which did not extend beyond Maryland 

 Point at the great bend in the river. By the establishment of Charles 

 County in 1658 St. Mary's was finally reduced to its present limits on 



