The Search for Fort St. Mary’s: Dreams of the Past, Hopes for the Future

Summary

Though much of the 17th century landscape has been uncovered archaeologically at St. Mary’s City in the last several decades, researchers have yet to find the elusive 1634 Fort; primary accounts even describe the Fort’s location as well as its size and construction. Forts with regional and/or temporal relevance to the 1634 Fort ‘ such as Plymouth, Fort Casimir, and Jamestown ‘ provide valuable clues and lay the groundwork for locating and reliably testing for Fort St. Mary’s. Archaeologists have conducted countless surveys and excavations at the traditionally-held Fort location on the banks of the St. Mary’s River. New evidence tantalizingly suggests the possibility of an early 17th century site in nearby Mill Field. It is the hope of the archaeologists that conducting a GPR survey of both the ‘traditional site’ as well as the Mill Field site, followed by intensive excavations, would locate the Fort.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• New Research on 16th and 17th century Forts in the Americas

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-8,03