St. Mary's City, Maryland

Although my undisclosed location is in Virginia, I was able to drive to some places in Maryland today.  I first went to Historic St. Mary's City, which was the capital of the British colony of Maryland from 1634 to 1695.  This is the reconstructed State House, behind some trees.

As I wandered around, I came across various buildings.  This one was undergoing some renovation.

This marker commemorates Mathias de Sousa, the first black person in Maryland.  He was part African and part Portuguese, and arrived as an indentured servant.  After his indenture was completed, he became a sailor and fur trader.  He also served in the colony's assembly, making him possibly the first person of African heritage in all of North America to become a legislator.

The brick building in the next picture was an inn run by the Van Sweringen family, who ran away from the Dutch colony of New Amstel when the English conquered it - and right into another colony run by the English.  The wooden building next to it probably served some purpose auxiliary to the inn.

As I continued wandering around, I came upon this building....

....and this building....

....and these two buildings.  I wasn't able to learn what they were used for.

According to the nearby informational display, this cannon was recovered from the St. Mary's River in 1824.

This is the Mackall barn, the oldest standing agricultural structure in Maryland.

The last building I came upon was this reconstructed Catholic church, built in 1667 and then rebuilt in 2009.  It's also called the Brick Chapel.

From this angle, you can see even more bricks.

While searching for some more information, I came upon a blogpost with lots of info and pictures about St. Mary's City and some other stuff.  For more on the place, go to Wandering Jana.