“A Fair House of Brick and Timber”: Archaeological Excavations at Mattapany-Sewall (18ST390) Naval Air Station, Patuxent River St. Mary’s County, Maryland

Today, Mattapany is an 18th-century house known as Quarters A, located aboard the Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NASPAX) in St. Mary's County, Maryland (Figure 1). However, the history of this area is far older than that of Quarters A. Long the site of Native American settlements, the Mattapany area was first occupied by Europeans around 1637, when the Jesuits established a mission and plantation in the vicinity. Thirty years later, Gov. Charles Calvert, who would become the third Lord Baltimore (and the only Baron of Baltimore to reside in Maryland), moved to Mattapany following his marriage to Jane Sewall, and he continued to live there for nearly two decades. An arsenal established at Mattapany in the 1670s was seized by Protestant rebels in 1689, signaling the end of Calvert proprietary rule in Maryland for over 25 years. Clearly, Mattapany is extremely significant to the 17th-century colonial history of Maryland and of the United States.

The 1981-1982 archaeological discoveries, as well as historical documentation, strongly suggested that additional evidence of Lord Baltimore’s 17th-century house existed in the area. The study of this site would contribute significantly to the understanding of 17th-century settlement and occupation in the Patuxent River region and in Maryland, and would also permit NASPAX to manage and to preserve this valuable cultural resource for future generations. Towards this end, in 1993 Doug Lister and Kyle Rambo of the Natural Resources Branch at NASPAX secured funding from the Department of Defense Legacy Resources Program to investigate 18ST390.

This report was originally accessioned under the MAC lab number 1998.034.