Not many people know that the small, remote college town of St. Mary's City was once the capital and chief city of Maryland. Even fewer know that it was one of the first places where the American principle of religious freedom was put into practice.
The Province of Maryland was founded in 1632 by the Catholic Cecil Calvert, Baron Baltimore. He and his father wished to create a haven for English Catholics at a time when they were frequently persecuted. The colony was one of the first to be founded on the principle of religious freedom, which it officially enshrined into law in 1649. Although sectarian conflict did occur, the colony became a model for the religious coexistence that characterizes America to this day.
St. Mary's City, the first colonial settlement in the state, was eventually abandoned after the capital moved in 1695. Eventually, however, a girls' school (today St. Mary's College of Maryland) was founded here, and the town was somewhat revitalized. The sculpture here commemorating religious tolerance was created in 1934 for the 300th anniversary of St. Mary's City's founding. It has since become a focal point for St. Mary's College of Maryland, with pranksters often putting clothes on the statue overnight.
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