The House of Delegates gave the assembly a petition in 1707.  They were asking to establish a town at the Breton Bay.  On what was known as Shephard's Old Fields, Leonardtown was established.  It became the county seat in 1708.  First named Seymour Town after the governor, the assembly didn't change the name until 1728 when it was called Leonard Town.  The two words were not combined to form Leonardtown until 1868.  Leonardtown has been an incorporated town since 1858 and was the first town to have legal government separate from the county.  Today, Leonardtown is centered around the town square full of rich grass, flowers, and monuments.  Shops and restaurants can be found nestled inside this old town.  Along with the town square, the county seat holds the Old Town Jail Museum and Tudor Hall, both of which house the St. Mary's County Historical Society and the County Courthouse.

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The Patuxent River Naval Air Museum strives to inform the public about the research, testing, development, and evaluation that has gone into Naval aviation, and the impact this has made on aviation in general.  The museum has many exhibits, both indoors and outdoors, include life-size, actual test aircraft (some of which can only be seen at this museum), audiovisual displays, hand-on displays, as well as the cupola from the Cedar Point Lighthouse, which now lays in ruins.
This museum is located on the corner of Rt. 235 & Peggs Rd., adjacent to Gate 1 of the Naval Base.

Museum Hours:
Tues - Sat -- 10am - 5pm
Sunday -- 10am - 4pm
Monday -- Closed

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Lord Baltimore and his colonists first set foot on Maryland soil on March 15, 1634 at St. Clements Island, the Birthplace of Maryland.  This date is now marked on the calendars as Maryland Day.  The island originally expanded for 400 acres, but over time erosion has left us with only 40 acres.  Lord Baltimore and his crew erected a cross when they landed on the island.  In 1934 a new one was erected to replace the old cross and mark the 300th anniversary of Maryland.  St. Clement's Island is only accessible by boat. 

The Potomac River Museum commemorates the colonists who landed on St. Clements Island.  Its exhibits show life in Maryland from the very historical past to the present, and include, but are not limited to, the Potomac Room, the Little Red Schoolhouse, and a historic watercraft called Doric C.  Piney Point Lighthouse and a Historic Shipwreck Preserve, U-1105 Black Panther are also run by this museum. 

For hours and location of St. Clements Island - Potomac River Museum visit this attraction on our St. Mary's County Parks page.

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The Little Red Schoolhouse, also known as Charlotte Hall School, reminds us of simpler times.  School children who attended this school had no cafeteria, no gymnasium, no air conditioning, no plumbing, no electricity, and no transportation.  Yes, they walked to school, up hills, through snow, for more than 5-6 miles, returning home much after dark. Through all this, students still learned the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.  Charlotte Hall School was a free school.  Today you would think "free" meant it didn't cost anything to attend, much like today's public schools.  Back then, "free" school meant you had to be white, and your parents had to be rich enough to send you to this school.  The Charlotte Hall school housed children from grades 1-7 from St. Mary's, Charles, and Prince George's Counties.  The school was charted in 1774 but did not open until after the Revolutionary War.  The school closed in 1976 and was converted into a veterans hospital.  The White House (a classroom building and home of headmaster) remains on the grounds today, while the Little Red Schoolhouse was presented to the St. Clement's Island - Potomac River Museum.  It was moved to its new home at the Museum on April 17, 1991.  It is open to the public today as a reminder of those simpler times and all the one-room schoolhouses that eventually popped-up around the country.  The schoolhouse is open to visitors during the Potomac River Museum's regular summer hours: Weekdays 9am - 5pm and Weekends 12pm - 5pm.

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No jail was needed for sometime in St. Mary's County.  Laws were strict but there is no record of the laws being enforced.  If you were caught being "bad" you were tried quickly, usually within 2 days.  If convicted or found guilty, you were charged $2 plus court costs.  The first courthouse in St. Mary's County was wooden and didn't last long.  A second courthouse was built in 1736 and made of brick.  This courthouse was destroyed in 1831 by fire.   John Quigley built the first jail in 1676 but it was far removed from the county court house which was moved to Leonardtown in 1708. 

Picture Provide by Stephanie Konecny

A jail in Leonardtown was built in 1858.  It sits on the grounds of the county courthouse and is what we know it as, The Old Jail.  This jail, when in use, was never a busy place.  With the opening of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in 1941, population was rising along with crime.  A new jail was built in 1950 behind the courthouse.  The Old Jail became a county building and houses the St. Mary's County Historical Society Information Center today.  In front of the Old Jail sits a cannon which was brought to Maryland on the Ark in 1634 and defended St. Mary's City for many years.  The Old Jail Museum is now open to the public and is open for tours Wednesday - Friday from 12pm until 2pm.  Call (301) 475-2467 for more information on tours.

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U-1105, a modified type VII-C German submarine, left its port in Germany on April 20, 1944, to begin its brief role in World War II.  Dubbed Black Panther, the submarine was outfitted with an experimental synthetic skin that was to counter Allied sonar devices.  Its mission in the war was to patrol Allied routes near Black Rock, Ireland.  On April 27, 1945, it came across some British destroyers.  The submarine shot torpedoes at these ships, remaining undetected the entire time.  On May 4, just seven days later, the captain of the Black Panther was told the war was over.  He headed to Scotland and surrendered to the British.  The British eventually handed the submarine over to the US Navy to study and experiment with.  On September 19, 1949, the US Navy damaged the submarine, and sank it in 90 feet of water in the Potomac River in Piney Point.  Divers rediscovered the shipwreck in June of 1985.  This site was named Maryland's first Historic Shipwreck Preserve in November of 1994.  You can learn more about this shipwreck by visiting the Potomac River Museum.  Divers interested in exploring this shipwreck first-hand can contact Maryland State Underwater Archaeologist at 410-514-7662.

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