For the 2016 Season, beginning on May 7, St. Michaels Museum at St. Mary’s Square will again offer docent led walking tours at 10 a.m. on Saturday Mornings. There will be four tours with differing lengths and foci that will be offered on a rotating basis. The details and schedules can be found on our website www.stmichaelsmuseum.org. These tours are also offered on a special basis and can be presented on other times for groups of 5 or more subject to the availability of docents.
For reservations or information, email [email protected] or call 410 745 0530.
The cost is $10 adults and $5 youth (7-17)
Included this year are the two classic 90-Minute, approximately ½ mile, walking tours: “Historic St. Michaels: its People, Places and Happenings” and “Frederick Douglass, a slave, in St. Michaels 1833-36”. Additionally there will be two new offerings, lasting approximately 60-minuttes each with minimal walking that will focus on the Museum exhibits and a short stroll in St. Mary’s Square. These tours draw of the fact that St. Mary’s Square, originally called the ”The Green” and the Museum exhibits contain much of the Town’s history in the 18th and 19th Centuries and so many stories can be told at these sites. Current Offerings will be “St. Michaels Museum and St. Mary’s Square: Frederick Douglass’ Formative Teenage Years” and “St. Michaels Museum and St. Mary’s Square: The Founding and Core of Our Town”
The general tour “Historic St. Michaels: its People, Places and Happenings” will be offered on the first Saturday of each month. This tour will give highlights of St. Michaels during the 19th Century, chronicling the rise and fall of the shipbuilding industry, the War of 1812 and battles of St. Michaels, and the rise of the seafood industry. These stories will be told by viewing many restored structures from that era and describing life of famous and typical residents of these times, including Frederick Douglas.
On the second Saturday of each month the shorter tour: “St. Michaels Museum and St. Mary’s Square: Highlights of Frederick Douglass’ Formative Teenage Years” will be offered. Using the Museum’s featured exhibit “Frederick Douglass: His world 1818-1895 “ and several relevant sites on the Square this story will be told of how he grew up in slavery and then became the most important African-American during the Civil war. Several significant events during his three formative years in St. Michaels undoubtedly helped to inspire him to gain his freedom and fight for that of fellow slaves.
On the third Saturday of each month the other shorter tour, “St. Michaels Museum and St. Mary’s Square: The Founding and Core of Our Town” will be offered. The land purchase and original plat that formed St. Michaels Village in 1778 established The Green (now St Mary’s Square) as the center of a new planned community. There were residences on one side and public buildings on the other with a Market Place in the center and gates at both ends. The Green played a central role in the life of the town and especially during the Battle of St. Michaels in 1813 and many events during the Civil War. Stories of these events and the colorful residents of the time will be discussed in this tour.
On the fourth Saturday the Museum’s signature tour “Frederic Douglass, a Slave, in St. Michaels 1833-36,” will give a more detailed view of the early life of St. Michaels’ most famous 19th century resident and probably the most important African-American Abolitionist in the Civil War Era. This will fit well with the Museum’s expanded exhibit; “Frederick Douglass: His world 1818-1895.” This tour will include a walk to several sites important in Frederick Douglass life in St. Michaels including the Dodson House where In 1877 Frederick reconciled with his previous master.
Detailed schedules for all of the tours can be found on the Museum’s Website: WWW.stmichaelsmuseum.org. Reservations are appreciated but not required. Please Email [email protected] for reservations and information or call 410 745 0530.
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