ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. -- In a quiet field just south of Town Center in Historic St. Mary's City, history is being rebuilt -- one timber at a time.
Crews have begun reconstructing part of the palisade wall that once surrounded St. Mary's Fort, Maryland's first English settlement founded in 1634. Based on years of archaeological data and shaped with traditional materials, the project aims to give visitors a tangible connection to the colony's earliest days.
Historic St. Mary's City officials said the reconstruction is "just the beginning," with future plans potentially including ghost frames, interpretive signage, and full-scale structures.
For centuries, the fort's exact location was lost. That changed in 2018 when archaeologist Dr. Travis Parno and geophysicist Dr. Tim Horsley identified a large palisaded enclosure in an area known as Mill Field using ground-penetrating radar. Excavations in 2019 confirmed the outline of a 120-yard-square fort, complete with defensive ditches, postholes, and traces of both English and Native American buildings.
Among the most notable finds were 25 feet of the original northwest palisade and a curved western bastion -- features now guiding the reconstruction. Crews have also uncovered artifacts offering a vivid glimpse of 17th-century life, from a King Charles I silver shilling and glass trade beads to religious medals, musket ball molds, and clay tobacco pipe fragments.
"This site is more than just a digital archive -- it's an active, evolving resource that gives the public access to discoveries as they happen," said Parno, HSMC's Director of Research and Collections. "As we excavate, we'll continue to add new pieces of St. Mary's Fort to the landscape. I expect this process to take years, not months, but by taking the necessary time, we ensure that the irreplaceable information offered by archaeological study is not lost to hasty construction. Visitors will be able to track the progress of our excavations by watching as our reconstruction efforts shift around the site."
To share those discoveries beyond the field, HSMC launched www.stmarysfort.com, featuring field blogs, artifact galleries, and virtual tours for classrooms and history enthusiasts.
The current construction focuses on a highly visible stretch of the wall extending 20 to 40 feet from the western bastion, with funding from the Maryland Heritage Area Authority and the HSMC Foundation. The build will include a cannon platform, ADA-compliant ramp, and educational signage.
The public can visit the archaeological site in person and view ongoing work. Details are available at hsmcdigshistory.org.
Whether experienced on-site or online, the project offers visitors an unprecedented opportunity to witness Maryland's founding -- reconstructed with care, one beam and artifact at a time.