Many thanks to Chestertown.Com for the content below.
Chestertown, located on the Chester River, was chartered in 1706 as a port of entry by the Maryland Assembly’s “Act for the advancement of trade and erecting ports and towns in the Province of Maryland.” One hundred acres were purchased from Simon Wilmer who held one of the original land grants. Growing into a prosperous trading port, Chestertown is one of Maryland’s oldest links with the outside world. Chestertown, with its brick sidewalks, Georgian, Federal and Victorian homes, and unique shops, beckons the visitor to come and enjoy its history. The current Court House was built in the 1860’s in Georgian style.
Among the many historically and architecturally interesting buildings in Chestertown are the Hynson-Ringgold House built between 1735 and 1772. This famous house is noted for its Antler Staircase believed to have been designed by noted architect William Buckland hired by Thomas Ringgold, one of the wealthiest men on the Shore, to work on the house. It is said that the house was a meeting place for officers connected with the port. It’s been written by Katherine Scarborough in “Homes of the Cavaliers” that “…the Abbey was the home of a coterie of light-hearted young Englishmen who took their duties at the port anything but seriously…” and it was “…one of the gayest places in Maryland.”
Wide Hall, another famous house built in the Georgian style, dates back to 1769. Its builder, Thomas Smythe, was Kent County’s wealthiest merchant and an illustrious Revolutionary War figure having served on the Committee of Correspondence and the Maryland Provisional Government. General George Washington often dined at Worell’s Tavern, and its building still stands today.
Chestertown was the center of Episcopal affairs in Maryland until the mid-1700’s. Emmanuel Episcopal Church on Cross Street was built in 1768 and is noted for being the site of the convention in 1790 that split the Episcopal Church in America away from the Anglican Church of England. In the 1860s the church underwent a renovation that changed its appearance from Georgian to Victorian with the high-backed pews removed and the stain glass windows replacing the plain ones. Another noteworthy church is the Janes United Methodist Church built in 1913. It is home to a black congregation that goes back to the 1840s, long before the Emancipation Proclamation.
Along with being a trade center, Chestertown rapidly became a center for government, court and higher education. The town is home to Washington College, the 10th oldest Liberal Arts college in the United States. The County’s court records, dating back to the 1640s, are the oldest in the State. Colonial justice, less codified then it is today, listed “repairing bridges” as one of the more popular sentences for those convicted of minor crimes. In the 1650s a court record reports a suspected cattle rustler was sentenced to be forbidden to go into the woods unless accompanied by “2 honest neighbors.”
Today, Chestertown is the county seat and the focal point of most community activities relating to the entire county. Its historic district, well preserved for the enjoyment of both residents and tourists, draws visitors from across the country who participate in activities ranging from antiquing to boating to golfing to shopping and touring old homes.
The above text is courtesy of:
Chestertown.Com
A history of Chestertown
