On November 22, 1633, the Ark and Dove set sail from England, bearing Gov. Leonard Calvert and 130 to 140 colonists to the new world. Gov. Calvert was bringing with him a charter from the King of England to Lord Baltimore, Cecilius Calvert. It was in this charter of 1633 that Lord Baltimore warned both Roman Catholic and Protestant colonists that they were not to give offense to one another in matters of religion, either on land or sea. Gov. Calvert bought "Yaocomaco Town" from the Indians who were very friendly and helpful to the settlers, especially during their first year. He took possession of the town on March 27 1634, renaming it Saint Marie's . For the first four years all colonists shared a single chapel building for worship. But in about 1638, the first Trinity Church, a wooden structure, had been built on Trinity (Smith) Creek near Ridge. In 1642, just four years later, it was moved to St. Mary's City. The exact appearance and location of this early structure is not known. In 1649 the General Assembly passed An Act Concerning Religion, which provided that no one should "be in any ways troubled, molested, or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion."

In 1692 their Majesties, William and Mary, established Sir Lionel Copley as the first royal governor of the province of Maryland, and soon thereafter the General Assembly passed an act establishing Anglicanism as the official religion in the colony. The colony's government was moved from St. Mary's City to Annapolis in 1694. The following year a law was passed allowing Anglicans to worship in the old St. Mary's City State House and, reciprocally, allowing churches to be used as courthouses. After the county seat was moved to Seymour Towne (Leonardtown) in 1708, the State House served exclusively as a church.

In 1720 the General Assembly deeded the State House and surrounding grounds to William and Mary Parish, of which present-day St. Mary's Parish still formed part. Since the removal of the seat of government to Annapolis, the State House had been ..."wholly rendered useless to the province and for want of repairs in time...all most gone to ruin..." (Archives of Maryland, Vol. XXXVIII,p.262). It was remodeled as a church by Joshua Doyne, as agreed to at a Vestry meeting on March 5, 1721. He was paid in the common exchange of the 18th-century province: tobacco -- thousands of pounds of it. Doyne built a new door, filled in the old one with bricks, and bought new pews for the congregation. A large oak altar, with a depiction of the Flight into Egypt above it, formed the focal point of the new church.

The State House served as a church for 134 years. Originally Church of England, in 1789 it became a congregation of the new Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA. The Reverend Joseph Jackson, writing to the Right Reverend Thomas Claggett, first Episcopal bishop of Maryland, left us this description of a service of that era:

Glebe of Wm. & Mary, St. M's, Oct. 23, 1812

...The congregation was large as they attended from both sides of the River. When Church was dismissed, it would have delighted you to behold the number of little vessels -- bateaux, canoes &c which were starting off in every direction. One pilot-boat was also in the company.. The place is naturally beautiful & the occasion was in itself exhilarating...

In 1829 the Vestry voted to tear down the 1676 State House that had served as their church for 134 years, since it had deteriorated beyond repair. According to the Vestry minutes of William and Mary Parish, the Reverend Henry Hotchkiss, who is said to have displaced the first bricks, died a few days thereafter and "sleeps at the northwest angle of the pit without a stone to mark the spot." A memorial stone was erected in 1995.

Construction began in 1829 for the present-day Trinity Church. Salvageable bricks from the old State House church were used to build the Georgian-style structure, which measured 40 by 34 feet, with galleries on both sides and one end, a vestry room 12 feet square, and a bell tower. It was consecrated in 1831 as Trinity Chapel, a chapel of ease for William and Mary Parish. A copy of a painting forming part of an article in a 1939 DAR magazine is our only guide to its original appearance.

Twenty years later, St. Mary's Parish was formed from the eastern portion of William and Mary Parish. The fourth pastor of the new parish, the Reverend James Stephenson, was the first to stay for any length of time (1855-1872). Alleged a Southern Sympathizer, he was not granted permission to minister to the Civil War Prisoners at the Point Lookout Prison Camp, although it was in his parish

The earliest record of Episcopal worship in The Ridge dates back to 1819. Parishioners may have worshipped in private homes or in a chapel at an unknown location.

In 1844 the church sold a portion of the State House land to the State to house St. Mary's Female Seminary, a living memorial to the 200th anniversary of the founding of St. Mary's City. Vestry meeting minutes in the old parish register, on March 8, 1850, read thus: "The neighborhood of The Ridge have been subject to great inconvenience in getting to Trinity Church ...for the last half century or more and (yet) have been compelled from the circumstances of the chase to contribute largely for the erection of the Church and all other expenses that have ever accrued there..." They therefore requested that some of the money taken in from the sale of the State House land be used to purchase a piece of ground on which they might build a chapel of ease in The Ridge, as the town was called. The trip to church in St. Mary's City by boat or buggy was indeed a hardship for people of that era, before the advent of the automobile. This building was sold in 1886 to a Black congregation and lost in a fire in 1887.

Present-day St. Mary's Chapel was built in 1884. "Consecrated St. Mary's Chapel, of St. Mary's Parish... Confirmed eight, addressed them, addressed the congregation, and administered Holy Communion," The Right Reverend William Paret, Bishop of Maryland, notes in his diary on July 26, 1885. The steeple was added in 1901, and in 1987 the sacristy was rebuilt and expanded. Its present wooden altar had served at Trinity Church until its 1937-38 renovation. In 1994 the interior of the Chapel was refurbished. Located directly on Route 5, the road to Point Lookout, the trim little white chapel, simple but beautifully proportioned, probably evokes nostalgia and -- it is to be hoped -- thoughts of God in many passing motorists.

Trinity Church was first remodeled in 1889, after having been torn down as far as the windows, with the bell tower remaining intact. Again salvaged bricks were used, this time to convert the Georgian structure into a Gothic one with six dormer windows opening with cords. The boxed pews and galleries were removed. The crosses on the new pews and part of the communion rail and bishop's chair have special meaning: It is believed that they were made of the old mulberry tree under which the first colonists gathered to establish a government.

The sacristy was added in 1910, and 1937-38, Trinity was remodeled again, the bell tower altered, the dormers removed, and a flagstone floor, sandstone altar, slate roof, new light fixtures, and electronic organ added. A new pipe organ was installed in 1983.

In 1991, the exterior of Trinity Church was renovated, the bricks stripped of vines, repaired, and repainted white. The earth was banked up to the level of the entrance, making it accessible to the disabled, and a beautiful new curving brick walk replaced the old straight one, which had been taken up brick by brick by the congregation after the service one Sunday.

First of all a beautiful natural setting for the church, the churchyard is also well worth visiting for its historical interest. The site of the mulberry tree already mentioned is marked there, as well as the original location of the 1676 State House. Two plaques commemorate the landing of the Ark and the Dove and the achievements of Mistress Margaret Brent, legal expert, landholder, and "suffragette." The 1694 burial vault of Sir Lionel Copley, first Royal Governor of Maryland, and Lady Anne Copley, occupies an important place.

1634 First settlers land at St. Mary's City.
ca. 1638 First Trinity Church erected on Trinity Creek.
ca. 1642 Trinity Church moved to St. Mary's City.
1649 Act of Religious Tolerance passed by General Assembly.
1650 The Rev. William Wilkinson, first resident rector, arrives at St. Mary's City.
1692 Act of Establishment creates William and Mary Parish, joining Trinity Church and St. George's, Valley Lee (Poplar Hill).
1695 Congregation authorized to worship in State House.
1720 Original deed of land and old State House made to the Parish by the General Assembly.
1783 Episcopal Diocese of Maryland established.
ca. 1819 First mention of a Chapel in The Ridge.
1829 Construction of present Trinity Church started.
1851 St. Mary's Parish formed from William and Mary Parish
1854-58 St. Mary's Chapel, second chapel of ease in Ridge, built and consecrated by Bishop Paret.
1884-85 St. Mary's Chapel, third chapel of ease in Ridge, built and consecrated by Bishop Paret.
1889 First renovation of Trinity Church in Gothic style. President Benjamin Harrison attends service at Trinity.
1895 St. Mary's Parish becomes part of the newly formed Diocese of Washington.
1901 Chapel steeple erected.
1910 Sacristy added to Trinity Church.
1937-38 Remodeling of Trinity Church.
1969 Church Point dedicated as place of outdoor worship and recreation.
1987 New and expanded Chapel sacristy completed.
1992 Trinity Church exterior renovated, new walk installed.
1994 Chapel interior refurbished
 

History written by Christiane Marks, and the Parish Historical Committee:
Millie Fletcher, Erma Sandidge, and Gale Burwell