southern Maryland

File:Mattawoman tidal with two egrets in flight 27-259.jpg]]

Counties located in Southern Maryland include Calvert County, Charles County, St. Mary's County, and the southern portions of Prince George's County and Anne Arundel County.

The region's northern boundary passes through Prince George's County and Anne Arundel County, east of Washington. Its eastern boundary is the Chesapeake Bay and its southern and western boundary is the Potomac River, Maryland's boundary with Virginia (and through it, the Northern Neck).

The Patuxent River runs through Southern Maryland, separating Calvert County and Anne Arundel County from Charles County, Prince George's County and St. Mary's County.

Land features in Southern Maryland include the St. Mary's Peninsula and the Calvert Peninsula.

Geologic formations of the Chesapeake Group can be found in Southern Maryland, including the Calvert Formation, the St. Marys Formation, and the Choptank Formation. Many of these formations are present at the Calvert Cliffs State Park in Calvert County.{{cite web |title=Fossil Collecting Sites at Calvert Cliffs |url=http://www.mgs.md.gov/geology/fossils/fossil_collecting.html#:~:text=The%20layers%20of%20sediment%20are,Formation%20in%20the%20southern%20part. |website=Maryland Department of Natural Resources |access-date=15 January 2024}}

Southern Maryland is within the Atlantic Coastal Plain physiographic region.{{cite web |title=MARYLAND AT A GLANCE |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/sciences/geology/html/geology.html |website=Maryland Manual On-Line |access-date=15 January 2024}}

File:Leonard Calvert, by Jacob Van Oost I or II (1640).jpg of the Maryland Colony]]

Southern Maryland was originally inhabited by the indigenous Piscataway people.{{cite web |title=FIRST PEOPLES |url=https://destinationsouthernmaryland.com/discover-history/first-peoples-southern-maryland-piscataway/ |website=Southern Maryland National Heritage Area |access-date=29 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Piscataway-Conoy: Rejuvenating ancestral ties to southern parks |url=https://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2018/10/01/piscataway-conoy/ |website=Maryland Department of Natural Resources |access-date=24 November 2023}} English explorer Captain John Smith explored the area in 1608 and 1609.{{cite web

|url=http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/landfall/schmidt/index.html

|title=Capt. John Smith's 1608 Chesapeake Voyage

|first=Christine

|last=Wright

|year=2002

|publisher=Calvert Marine Museum

|access-date=2007-12-08

}}{{cite web |title=Captain John Smith |url=https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/history/captain-john-smith |website=Chesapeake Bay Program |access-date=29 December 2023}}

Cecilius Calvert was granted a charter to establish a colony meant to be a safe-haven for Catholics in 1632. Expeditions were launched into modern day Maryland, with an expedition reaching St. Clement's Island in 1634.{{cite web |title=WHERE MARYLAND BEGAN |url=https://destinationsouthernmaryland.com/discover-history/where-maryland-began-history-statehood/ |website=Southern Maryland National Heritage Area |access-date=29 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=The colony of Maryland |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Maryland-state/The-colony |website=Britannica |access-date=1 December 2023}} Later that year, the Maryland Colony was established by Leonard Calvert, first Governor of Maryland and brother of Cecilius. The colony's capital, and first settlement, was the newly established St. Mary's City.

The colony originally focused on tobacco farming and was very successful although disease was a problem and many settlers died until immunities built up in the population. Religious tensions and also periods of open conflict also continued to be a major challenge.

St. Mary's City is widely considered to be the birthplace of religious freedom in North America."Reconstructing the Brick Chapel of 1667" Page 1, See section entitled "The Birthplace of Religious Freedom" {{cite web |url=https://stmaryscity.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Chapel-Reconstruction.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-12-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313133644/http://www.stmaryscity.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Chapel-Reconstruction.pdf |archive-date=2014-03-13 }} The colony there started under a mandate of religious tolerance in a time when England was anything but religiously tolerant. This was due to the colony's charter, which did not prohibit non-protestant churches. In 1649, the Maryland Colonial Assembly passed of one of the earliest laws requiring religious tolerance, known as the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649.{{cite web |last1=Vile |first1=John |title=Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 |url=https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/maryland-toleration-act-of-1649/ |website=Free Speech Center |access-date=1 December 2023}}

After 61 years as Maryland's capital an uprising of Protestants put an end to religious tolerance, overthrowing the old Catholic leadership and putting an end to colonial St. Mary's City itself, moving the colonial capital to Annapolis."ST. MARY'S COUNTY, MARYLAND: HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY", Maryland Manual Online, Maryland State Archives, Government of the State of Maryland, http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/36loc/sm/chron/html/smchron.htmlMaclear, J.F. (1995). Church and State in the Modern Age: A Documentary History. New York: Oxford University Press US. {{ISBN|0-19-508681-3}}"The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, Volume I: To 1877", By Paul Boyer, Clifford Clark, Karen Halttunen, Sandra Hawley, Joseph Kett, "Chapter: 4 The Bonds of Empire: 1660-1740" page 70, Cengage Learning, publisher, Jan 1, 2012,

{{See also|History of slavery in Maryland}}

File:Charles Calvert and his Slave.jpg, who was the third Proprietary Governor of Maryland.]]

St. Mary's City was abandoned as a capital but was slowly consolidated from smaller farms into a large, single slave plantation by the late 1600s.Frank D. Roylance, Evening Sun, "They're unearthing more than a chapel at St. Mary's site BURIED PAST", November 13, 1990 [https://web.archive.org/web/20130424133124/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-11-13/news/1990317111_1_chapel-mary-city-brick]Kenneth K. Lam, "Unearthing early American life in St. Mary’s City: St. Mary’s City is an archaeological jewel on Maryland’s Western Shore", The Baltimore Sun, Aug 30, 2013, http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2013/08/unearthing-early-american-life-in-st-marys-city/#1 Originally, laborers were Indentured Servants, with African slaves arriving in 1639. Tobacco and (later) also wheat plantations expanded there and in Southern Maryland as a whole during the slavery era. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade brought African slaves by the boatloads, with 100,000 slaves disembarking in Maryland during the century before the American Revolution. From the late 1600s to early 1700s, about half of Maryland's enslaved population lived in Calvert, St Mary's, Prince George's, and Charles counties.{{cite web |title=The Peopling of Maryland Colony |url=https://www.nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/chesapeakeb.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=1 December 2023}} By 1755, one third of Maryland's population were enslaved Africans. Slavery proved vital to Maryland's economy, with the institution providing the foundation for Maryland's economy and society.{{cite web |title=A Guide to the History of Slavery in Maryland |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/intromsa/pdf/slavery_pamphlet.pdf |website=Maryland State Archives |access-date=16 December 2023}} The profits from slavery also provided the means for Maryland's gentry to gain power and dominate politics.

272 slaves from across Maryland, including the Southern Maryland counties of Charles, St. Mary's, and Prince George's, were sold during the 1838 Jesuit slave sale to two planters in Louisiana.{{cite web |title=The Lost Jesuit Slaves of Maryland|url=https://www.georgetownmemoryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/Research-Memo-Lost-Jesuit-Slaves.pdf |website=The Georgetown Memory Project |access-date=19 June 2024}}

A notable abolitionist from southern Maryland was Josiah Henson, a slave who was born in Charles County before escaping to Canada. Henson wrote an autobiography that inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Slavery ended in Maryland in November 1864 during the American Civil War, when Maryland ratified a new Constitution that abolished slavery.

During the American Revolutionary War, British forces landed on St. George Island in St. Mary's County on July 15, 1776, under the command of John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore.{{cite web |title=WAR COMES TO SOUTHERN MARYLAND |url=https://destinationsouthernmaryland.com/discover-history/war-comes-to-southern-maryland-history-1812/ |website=destinationsouthernmaryland.com |access-date=25 November 2023}}{{cite web |title=On This Day in History - July 16, 1776 |url=https://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/maryland-largest-battle-revolution.html |website=Revolutionary War and Beyond |access-date=19 December 2023}} Dunmore's forces were defeated by local Flying Camp militia led by Captain Rezin Beall, and they left the island on August 9, 1776.{{cite web |last1=Russel |first1=Jack |title=St. George Is. Opens 1776 Revolutionary War in MD |url=https://lexleader.net/st-george-is-opens-1776-revolutionary-war-in-md/ |website=The Leader |access-date=25 November 2023}} During the war, American slaves throughout the Chesapeake region flocked to British lines following Dunmore's Proclamation, which promised freedom for slaves who fought for the British military.

Due to Southern Maryland's proximity to the national capitol, the region was deeply affected by the War of 1812, with the war severely disrupting the lives of the region's citizens. During August and September 1814, the British launched a campaign in the Chesapeake region. British forces landed in Benedict, Charles County on August 19, 1814.{{cite news |last1=Glass |first1=Andrew |title=British troops land at Benedict, Maryland, Aug. 19, 1814 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/this-day-in-politics-aug-19-1814-121483 |access-date=25 November 2023 |agency=Politico}} Intent on marching to Washington, the British marched to Upper Marlboro before engaging American troops at the Battle of Bladensburg. The battle resulted in a British victory. By nightfall on August 24, 1814, British forces entered Washington and burned several government buildings.{{cite web |title=The fall of Fort Washington and the Battle of White House Landing |url=https://www.nps.gov/fowa/learn/historyculture/the-fall-of-fort-washington-and-the-battle-of-white-house-landing.htm#:~:text=On%20August%2019%2C1814%20the,British%20ships%20in%20the%20Chesapeake. |website=National Park Service |access-date=25 November 2023}} The British then marched back to Benedict.{{cite web |title=Fort Warburton |url=https://www.nps.gov/fowa/learn/historyculture/warburton.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=25 November 2023}} Similarly to what occurred in the Revolutionary War, enslaved Marylanders fled to British controlled areas to receive freedom.

File:Booth escape route.svg escape route following the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln runs through Southern Maryland]]

During the American Civil War, wartime sympathies were divided in Maryland"Civil War in Maryland: Southern Sympathizers", Maryland State Archives, June 25, 2004, http://teaching.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000000/000114/html/t114.html and Southern Maryland was sympathetic to the Confederates next to Maryland's Eastern Shore. From the war's beginning, however, large numbers of Union occupying troops and patrolling river gunboats prevented the state's secession, although frequent nighttime smuggling across the Potomac River with Virginia took place, including of Maryland men volunteering for Confederate service. John Wilkes Booth was helped by several people in his escape through the area and in crossing the river after killing President Abraham Lincoln.{{cite web |title=About Dr. Mudd |url=https://drmudd.org/about-dr-mudd/ |website=Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museum |access-date=24 November 2023}}{{cite web |title=Civil War History Brochures & App |url=https://www.visitmaryland.org/article/civil-war-history#:~:text=Although%20it%20was%20a%20slaveholding,were%20sympathetic%20to%20the%20Confederacy. |website=Maryland Office of Tourism |access-date=29 December 2023}} Thousands of captured Confederate troops were confined in harsh conditions at Point Lookout Prison Camp at the southern tip of the peninsula.{{cite web |title=Point Lookout State Park, Civil War Museum & Lighthouse |url=https://www.visitstmarysmd.com/directory/point-lookout-state-park/ |website=Visit St Mary's MD |access-date=24 November 2023}} During the war, in November 1863, Maryland ratified a new state Constitution which abolished slavery in the state.

Southern Maryland was traditionally a rural, agricultural, oyster fishing and crabbing region; linked by passenger and freight steamboat routes.{{cite news |last1=Shaum |first1=Jack |title=THE STEAMBOATS OF CHESAPEAKE BAY |url=https://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/DocumentCenter/View/2347/-Bugeye-Times-Winter-2017?bidId=#:~:text=There%20were%20several%20types%20of,the%20colorful%20excursion%20steamers%20that |access-date=24 November 2023 |agency=Bugeye Times |date=Winter 2016–2017}} These steamboat routes operated on the Chesapeake Bay and major rivers until the 1930s before the building of highways and the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge on U.S. Highway 301. (The latter highway was named after Robert Crain, an attorney who owned the state's largest farm, Mount Victoria, and who campaigned for the road's construction{{cite web |title=Robert S. Crain (1865-1928) |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/014000/014014/html/14014bio.html |website=Maryland State Archives |access-date=24 November 2023}}). Weekend excursion boats also carried Washingtonians to small amusement parks and amusement pavilions at numerous Potomac shore locations.{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Jay |title=Potomac River Landings During the Steamboat Era |url=https://jay.typepad.com/william_jay/2019/05/potomac-river-landings-during-the-steamboat-era.html |website=Jaybird's Jottings |access-date=24 November 2023}} From 1949 (1943 in some places) to 1968, the region was known for its poverty and its slot machine gambling.{{cite news |last1=Janis |first1=Stephen |title=Little Vegas What Can Maryland’s Troubled History with Slot Machines Tell Us About the Odds for the Future? |url=http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=9408 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929205441/http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=9408 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-09-29 |access-date=24 November 2023 |agency=Baltimore City Paper |date=1 December 2004}}

Poverty was common in St. Mary's County in the 1960s,"Raley remembered as architect of modern St. Mary’s: Former state senator dies at 85; slots ended, bridge created through his work", Jason Babcock, Staff writer http://www.somdnews.com/article/20120822/NEWS/708229616/1044/news&source=RSS&template=gazette and gambling in the region came to be seen as a blight and was outlawed by Governor J. Millard Tawes and the state legislature."For 21 years, slot machines ruled in St. Mary’s", Jason Babcock, Southern Maryland Newspapers, Wednesday, July 26, 2006, http://ww2.somdnews.com/stories/072606/entefea172603_32091.shtml {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407071238/http://ww2.somdnews.com/stories/072606/entefea172603_32091.shtml |date=2014-04-07 }} A local political figure, St. Mary's County politician J. Frank Raley Jr. organized a slate of local candidates with the platform of challenging the political status-quo and lifting the region out of its generations long poverty.

The region's isolation was ended by having a series of bridges built and roads expanded into highways."J. Frank Raley, 85, St. Mary’s City", Southern Maryland News, Wednesday, August 22, 2012 http://www.somdnews.com/article/20120822/misc/708229670/-1/j-frank-raley-85-st-mary-s-city&template=southernmaryland {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140404000713/http://www.somdnews.com/article/20120822/misc/708229670/-1/j-frank-raley-85-st-mary-s-city&template=southernmaryland |date=2014-04-04 }} These developments are credited for enabling the development of modern St. Mary's County.

Raley was falsely accused of working to end gambling outright in the region, which ended in his defeat and his official political career. In fact he had supported a referendum on gambling which would have put the decision directly in the hands of voters. He continued nevertheless lobbying on behalf of the Southern Maryland region and sitting on development boards and continued to have a major influence on economic development in the region for the rest of his life.

File:US Navy 050521-N-0295M-026 Air Force One takes off from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., during the 2005 Joint Service Open House.jpg, commonly known as Air Force One, taking off from Joint Base Andrews]]

Since the 1980s, the region experienced suburban development as the Washington suburbs expanded southward.{{cite web |title=History of Suburbanization in Maryland |url=https://roads.maryland.gov/oppen/B-2.pdf |website=Maryland.gov |access-date=29 December 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Lincoln |first1=Taylor |title=Southern Maryland Grows Fastest, D.C. Suburbs Grow Biggest |url=https://cnsmaryland.org/1998/03/17/southern-maryland-grows-fastest-d-c-suburbs-grow-biggest/ |access-date=29 December 2023 |agency=Capital News Service |date=17 March 1998}}{{cite news |last1=Layton |first1=Lindsey |last2=Deane |first2=Claudia |title=Poll Shows Southern Md. Residents Agree: Growth Is a Concern |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/counties/southmd/poll0322.htm |access-date=29 December 2023 |agency=The Washington Post |date=28 March 1998}} This expansion took place primarily in Prince George's County, and around Waldorf (a regional shopping hub) and St. Charles (a planned community in Charles County), Lexington Park (St. Mary's County) and Prince Frederick (Calvert County). Much of the area remains rural, a mixture of forest and farmland, despite suburban growth.{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Darnell |title=PUTTING CHARLES COUNTY IN CONTEXT |url=https://www.meetcharlescounty.com/blog/2021/06/02/default/putting-charles-county-in-context/ |website=Meet Charles County |access-date=29 December 2023}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.marylandtransportation.com/Planning/Southern%20Maryland/Existing%20Conditions%20Exec%20Summar.pdf

|title=Summer 2007 — Draft Existing Conditions Summary

|publisher=Maryland Department of Transportation

|year=2007

|access-date=2007-12-06

}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.mdp.state.md.us/INFO/newmaps/pax2_y2k.htm

|title=Patuxent River – 2000 Land Use / Land Cover

|publisher=Maryland Department of Planning

|year=2000

|access-date=2007-12-08

}} This suburban growth has occurred and continued despite concerns from locals and environmental advocates.{{cite web |last1=Neal |first1=Terry |last2=Shields |first2=Todd |title=Md. Looks to Regulate the Promised Land |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/growth/part4/charles.htm |website=The Washington Post |access-date=29 December 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Degregorio |first1=Jen |title=Southern Maryland Growth Has Planners Wary About Long-Term Impact on Aquifers |url=https://cnsmaryland.org/2004/04/29/southern-maryland-growth-has-planners-wary-about-long-term-impact-on-aquifers/ |access-date=29 December 2023 |agency=Capitol News Service |date=29 April 2004}}

Many southern Marylanders work for the United States Armed Forces or the United States Federal Government and its related industries. Other smaller industries include a nuclear power plant[http://www.constellationenergy.com/generation/ccnpp.asp Power generation: Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant]. (2006). Constellation Energy. Retrieved December 22, 2006. and a liquified natural gas terminal[http://www.calvertchamber.org/m/20/Dominion-Cove-Point-LNG Dominion Cove Point LNG]. (2005). Calvert Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved December 22, 2006. (both in Lusby), a Naval ordnance test ground (at Indian Head),{{cite web |title=INDIAN HEAD HISTORY 1890 - 1997 |url=http://www.ih.navy.mil/about_us/our_heritage/histx.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813075330/http://www.ih.navy.mil/about_us/our_heritage/histx.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-08-13 |website=Naval Sea Systems Command |access-date=15 January 2024}}[http://www.ih.navy.mil Indian Head division, Naval Surface Warfare Center] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050108085520/http://www.ih.navy.mil/ |date=2005-01-08 }}. (n.d.). United States Department of Navy. Retrieved December 22, 2006. electric power plants (at Aquasco and Morgantown)[http://www.mirant.com/our_business/where_we_work/chalkpoint.htm Chalk Point Generating Plant] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20060317051213/http://www.mirant.com/our_business/where_we_work/chalkpoint.htm |date=2006-03-17 }}. (n.d.). Mirant Corporation. Retrieved December 22, 2006. and an oil terminal[http://www.mirant.com/our_business/where_we_work/pineypoint.htm Mirant Piney Point] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20061015121232/http://www.mirant.com/our_business/where_we_work/pineypoint.htm |date=2006-10-15 }}. (n.d.). Mirant Corporation. Retrieved December 22, 2006. (at Piney Point). The towns of Solomons Island and Chesapeake Beach are tourist resorts.{{cite web |last1=Ajello |first1=Jennifer |title=Chesapeake Bay Resorts |url=https://www.visitmaryland.org/list/chesapeake-bay-resorts |website=Maryland Office of Tourism |access-date=11 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=SOLOMONS ISLAND, MARYLAND |url=https://www.baydreaming.com/destinations/solomons-island-maryland/ |website=BAYDREAMING.COM |access-date=11 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Chesapeake Beach |url=https://www.visitmaryland.org/chesapeake-beach |website=Maryland Office of Tourism |access-date=11 December 2023}} The Maryland International Raceway and Budds Creek Raceway near Chaptico attract many auto and motocross racing enthusiasts.{{cite web |title=MARYLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY |url=https://www.visitmaryland.org/listing/sports/maryland-international-raceway |website=Maryland Office of Tourism |access-date=11 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=BUDDS CREEK MOTOCROSS RACE TRACK |url=https://www.visitmaryland.org/listing/outdoor-recreation/budds-creek-motocross-race-track |website=Maryland Office of Tourism |access-date=11 December 2023}}

Military installations in Southern Maryland include:

• Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Lexington Park, St. Mary's County, home of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and place where the F-35 fighter aircraft was developed.{{cite web |title=Photo: Arrival of last F-35C completes Patuxent River complement of Lightning II aircraft |url=https://www.navair.navy.mil/node/16656 |website=Naval Air Systems Command |access-date=10 December 2023}}{{cite news |title=U.S. Naval Test Pilot School celebrates 70 years |url=https://www.navair.navy.mil/node/22131 |access-date=10 December 2023 |agency=Naval Air Systems Command |date=18 March 2015}}
• Joint Base Andrews and Andrews Air Force Base, Camp Springs, in southern Prince Georges County, home of Air Force One and Marine One, aircraft for the President of the United States.{{cite web |title=Joint Base Andrews |url=https://www.military.com/base-guide/joint-base-andrews |website=Military.com |access-date=10 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Air Force One |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Air-Force-One |website=Britannica |access-date=10 December 2023}}
• Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head, Charles County, national munitions research and development center{{cite web |title=WELCOME TO NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY INDIAN HEAD |url=https://ndw.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NSA-South-Potomac/Installations/NSF-Indian-Head/ |website=Naval Support Facility Indian Head |access-date=10 December 2023}}
• Webster Field, St. Inigoes, St. Mary's County, aircraft research and development, training field for test pilots{{cite web |title=WEBSTER OUTLYING FIELD |url=https://ndw.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NAS-Patuxent-River/About/Annexes/Webster-Outlying-Field/ |website=Naval District Washington |access-date=10 December 2023}}
• Brandywine Receiver Site in Brandywine, Maryland. It is a remote facility associated with Andrews Air Force Base, and is remotely maintained from the Davidsonville Transmitter Site in Davidsonville, Maryland.{{cite web |title=BRANDYWINE RECEIVER SITE WP-16 |url=https://www.jba.af.mil/Portals/38/documents/About-Us/Environmental/Environmental_Sites/AFD-130514-043.pdf |website=Joint Base Andrews |access-date=16 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Andrews Air Force Base (Joint Base Andrews) |url=https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/Land/MarylandBrownfieldVCP/Documents/www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/brownfields/Andrews%20Air%20Force%20Base%20PGW.pdf |website=Maryland Department of the Environment |access-date=16 December 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Cole |first1=Donna |title=A place in Davidsonville and Why it's So Important |url=https://www.annapoliscreative.com/davidsonville/ |access-date=16 December 2023 |agency=Annapolis Creative |date=23 September 2018}}{{cite web |title=ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF CONSOLIDATION ACTIVITIES AT BRANDYWINE RECEIVER SITE, ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, MARYLAND |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA611517.pdf |website=Defense Technical Information Center |access-date=16 December 2023}}
• Coast Guard Station St. Inigoes, St. Mary's County; public safety and rescue, law enforcement and fisheries enforcement for area waters{{cite news |last1=Slaughter |first1=Shannon |title=Guardians of the Potomac: U.S. Coast Guard Station St. Inigoes |url=https://somd.com/news/headlines/2012/15865.php |access-date=10 December 2023 |agency=Southern Maryland Online |date=28 August 2012}}

Suburban areas of Southern Maryland also have many Washington-area military related commuters.{{cite web |title=Southern Maryland Military Relocation |url=https://www.exploremdhomes.com/buyers/maryland-military-relocations/ |website=The Southside Group |access-date=10 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=LIVING IN SOUTHERN MARYLAND |url=https://www.southernmarylandrealtors.org/pages/living-in-southern-maryland/ |website=Southern Maryland Association of Realtors |access-date=10 December 2023}}

File:Drum Point Lighthouse.JPGhouse in Solomon's Island]]

The Southern Maryland National Heritage Area was established in the National Heritage Area Act in 2022.{{Cite web |date=December 22, 2022 |title=National Heritage Area Act |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1942 |website=Congress.gov}} The National Heritage Area helps preserve and promote destinations in four counties.{{Cite web |last=Maryland |first=Destination Southern |date=2022-07-20 |title=Southern Maryland National Heritage Area Act Passed by the House of Representatives |url=https://destinationsouthernmaryland.com/southern-maryland-national-heritage-area-act-passed-by-the-house-of-representatives/ |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=Destination Southern Maryland |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Cardin, Hoyer Renew Push to Make Southern Maryland a New National Heritage Area |url=https://www.cardin.senate.gov/press-releases/cardin-hoyer-renew-push-to-make-southern-maryland-a-new-national-heritage-area/ |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=U.S. Senator Ben Cardin |language=en-US}} The National Heritage Area was officially designated in 2023.{{cite web |title=Southern Maryland National Heritage Area |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/southern-maryland-national-heritage-area.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=24 November 2024}}

It is also one of thirteen state heritage areas and is administered by the Maryland Historical Trust through the Maryland Heritage Areas Program.{{Cite web |title=MHT - Maryland Heritage Areas Program |url=https://mht.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=Maryland Historical Trust |language=en-us}}

Tourist Attractions in Southern Maryland include historical sites, such as the Thomas Stone National Historic Site, Historic St. Mary's City, and Port Tobacco Village, among others.{{cite web |title=Basic Information |url=https://www.nps.gov/thst/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=11 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Culture: Historic Sites |url=https://somd.com/culture/historicsites/ |website=Southern Maryland Online |access-date=29 December 2023}} Museums in the area include the Calvert Marine Museum, and the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum. Waterfront sites along the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River, and the Patuxent River are also tourist attractions. These include Mallows Bay, the Mallows Bay–Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary, and Solomon's Island.{{cite web |date=9 September 2019 |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/26/2019-20608/designation-of-mallows-bay-potomac-river-national-marine-sanctuary-notification-of-effective-date|title=Designation of Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary|website=www.federalregister.gov}}{{cite web |last1=Meyer |first1=Jim |title=Things to See and Do in Southern Maryland |url=https://www.visitmaryland.org/list/things-see-and-do-southern-maryland |website=Maryland Office of Tourism}}

The entire region is contained within Maryland's 5th congressional district,{{cite web |title=113th Congress of the United States Maryland - Congressional District 5 |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd113/cd_based/ST24/CD113_MD05.pdf |website=census.gov |access-date=15 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Maryland’s 5th Congressional District |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/MD/5|website=govtrack.us |access-date=15 December 2023}} which has been represented by Rep. Steny Hoyer since 1981.{{cite web |last1=Parrott-Sheffer |first1=Chelsey |title=Steny Hoyer |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Steny-Hoyer |website=Britannica |access-date=24 November 2023}}

Maryland's two U.S. senators are Chris van Hollen (senior) and Angela Alsobrooks (junior).

Oysters are still widely available although they were once fished from the bay and its tidal tributaries in greater numbers, and are served either fried, raw, or stuffed. "Rockfish", the Maryland word for striped bass, is considered the most prized fish dish in Southern Maryland.{{Cite web |date=21 November 2012 |title=Chesapeake Bay shapes state food customs |url=http://www.americanfoodroots.com/50-states/about-maryland/}}

Perhaps the most notable food dish originating from Southern Maryland is stuffed ham, which includes cabbage, kale, onions, spices and seasonings that are chopped and mixed, then stuffed into deep slits slashed in a whole, corned ham.{{cite book |last=Alumnae |title=Treasured Recipes of Old St. Mary's County |publisher=St. Mary's Academy |year=1959}}

Many residents also identify with national sports teams in Washington DC or Baltimore.

File:Calvert Hall.jpg]]

Colleges in Southern Maryland include:

• The College of Southern Maryland, a two-year community college with campuses in Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary's Counties{{cite web |title=College of Southern Maryland |url=https://mdacc.org/the-colleges/college-of-southern-maryland/ |website=Maryland Association of Community Colleges |access-date=15 December 2023}}
• St. Mary's College of Maryland, a four-year public honors college in St. Mary's County with some graduate school offerings{{cite web |title=St. Mary's College of Maryland |url=https://www.princetonreview.com/college/st-marys-college-maryland-1022723 |website=The Princeton Review |access-date=15 December 2023}}

• Jerome Adams, Surgeon General of the United States{{cite news |title=New surgeon general’s science background was nurtured in Maryland |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2017/09/07/new-surgeon-generals-science-background-was-nurtured-in-maryland/ |access-date=27 December 2023 |agency=The Baltimore Sun |date=7 September 2017}}
• Margaret Brent, prominent colonist{{cite web |title=Margaret Brent (ca. 1601-ca. 1671) |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/002100/002177/html/brochure.html |website=Maryland State Archives |access-date=19 January 2024}}
• Harriet Elizabeth Brown, educator and civil rights activist{{cite web |title=Harriet Elizabeth Brown (1907-2009) |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/013500/013592/html/13592bio.html |website=Archives of Maryland |access-date=24 November 2024}}
• Robert Crain, prominent local lawyer, namesake of Crain Highway
• Moll Dyer, woman accused of being a witch{{cite web |title=The Legend of Moll Dyer |url=https://www.visitstmarysmd.com/blog/legend-of-moll-dyer/ |website=Visit St Mary's MD |access-date=7 September 2024}}
• Bernie Fowler, Maryland State Senator and environmental advocate{{cite web |title=C. BERNARD (BERNIE) FOWLER |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/speccol/sc5100/sc5123/000002/html/fowler.html |website=Maryland State Archives |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Danny Gatton, guitarist{{cite news |last1=Harrington |first1=Richard |title=GATTON DEAD OF GUNSHOT WOUND |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/10/06/gatton-dead-of-gunshot-wound/b1cfae12-39d5-4e13-a19f-ea9f4a599254/ |access-date=27 December 2023 |agency=The Washington Post |date=6 October 1994}}
• Louis L. Goldstein, Comptroller of Maryland{{cite web |title=COMPTROLLER OF MARYLAND |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/08conoff/former/html/msa01579.html |website=Maryland.gov |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Alfred Gough, television and film screenwriter and producer{{cite web |title=Alfred Gough |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/alfred_gough |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Scott Hall, professional wrestler{{cite web |title=Scott Hall, Maryland-born ‘Bad Guy’ leader of wrestling’s New World Order, dies at 63 |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2022/03/15/scott-hall-maryland-born-bad-guy-leader-of-wrestlings-new-world-order-dies-at-63/ |website=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Dashiell Hammett, author{{cite web |title=Dashiell Hammett |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dashiell-Hammett |website=Britannica |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• John Hanson, founding father{{cite web |title=John Hanson Statue |url=https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/john-hanson-statue |website=Architect of the Capitol |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Joseph B. Hayden, Medal of Honor recipient{{cite web |title=JOSEPH B HAYDEN |url=https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/joseph-b-hayden |website=Congressional Medal of Honor Society |access-date=31 December 2023}}
• Josiah Henson, abolitionist{{cite web |title=AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE |url=https://destinationsouthernmaryland.com/discover-history/african-american-experience-maryland-history/ |website=Southern Maryland National Heritage Area |access-date=16 December 2023}}
• Matthew Henson, Arctic explorer{{cite web |last1=Mills |first1=James |title=The Legacy of Arctic Explorer Matthew Henson |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/the-legacy-of-arctic-explorer-matthew-henson |website=National Geographic |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Steny Hoyer, member of the House of Representatives
• Thomas Johnson, governor of Maryland and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States{{cite web |title=Thomas Johnson |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Johnson |website=Britannica |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Mary Kittamaquund, a Piscataway who helped to establish relations between Natives and English colonists{{cite web |title=Mary Kittamaquund |url=https://www.native-americans.org/mary-kittamaquund/ |website=Native Americans |access-date=2 January 2024}}
• Joel and Benji Madden, musicians from the band Good Charlotte{{Cite news| last =Hoard| first =Christian| title = Young, Hopeless, Rich, and Famous| date =April 9, 2003| url =https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/good_charlotte_young_hopeless_rich_and_famous| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071001091431/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/good_charlotte_young_hopeless_rich_and_famous| url-status =dead| archive-date =October 1, 2007| work =Rolling Stone Australia}}
• Christina Milian, singer{{cite web

| title =Christina Milian Biography

| work =ChristinaMilian.org - The Official Site of Christina Milian

| publisher =Milian Corporation

| url =http://www.christinamilian.org/bio.php

| access-date =2007-12-14 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071120015017/http://www.christinamilian.org/bio.php |archive-date = 2007-11-20}}

• Dr. Samuel Mudd, doctor
• Captain Raphael Semmes, captain of the CSS Alabama{{cite web |title=Semmes, Rapheal |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-people/s/semmes-raphael.html |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• William Smallwood, general{{cite web |title=William Smallwood (1732-1792) |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/001100/001134/html/1134bio.html |website=Maryland State Archives |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Robert Stethem, US Navy diver and murder victim during the hijacking of TWA Flight 847{{cite web |title=History |url=https://stethem.ccboe.com/about/history |website=Robert D. Stethem Educational Center |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Benjamin Stoddert, first United States Secretary of the Navy{{cite web |title=Benjamin Stoddert (1798–1801) |url=https://millercenter.org/president/adams/stoddert-1798-secretary-of-the-navy |website=UVA Miller Center |access-date=21 December 2024}}
• Thomas Stone, founding father{{cite web |title=Thomas Stone |url=https://www.nps.gov/people/thomas-stone.htm |website=National Park Service |access-date=31 December 2023}}
• Arthur Storer, astronomer{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Henry |title=Maryland’s First Scientist |url=https://www.hsmcdigshistory.org/clues-to-early-maryland-13-marylands-first-scientist/ |website=Historic St. Mary's City |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Mathias de Sousa, first African-American to vote in an American legislature
• Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the United States{{cite web |title=Roger B. Taney |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roger-B-Taney |website=Britannica |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Turkey Tayac, Piscataway tribal leader and herbal medicine man{{cite news |last1=Hodge |first1=Paul |title=Chief Is Buried in Piscataway |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/11/12/chief-is-buried-in-piscataway/963934ce-d0fe-4ae0-b4e4-9972446fc7a8/ |access-date=27 December 2023 |agency=The Washington Post |date=12 November 1979}}
• Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor, First Lady of the United States under Zachary Taylor{{cite web |title=Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/about-the-white-house/first-families/margaret-mackall-smith-taylor/ |website=The White House |access-date=27 December 2023}}
• Dr. Robert Ulanowicz, Theoretical ecologist[http://ww2.somdnews.com/stories/102506/recfea163931_32093.shtml Erica Mitrano, "Palm gracing Solomons conjures a tropical breeze", Southern Maryland Newspapers Online, Oct. 25, 2006.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326094505/http://ww2.somdnews.com/stories/102506/recfea163931_32093.shtml |date=2012-03-26 }}

• Tidewater (region)
• Southern Maryland Delegation
• Southern Maryland Rapid Transit
• Southern Maryland Athletic Conference
• Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative
• Southern Maryland Railroad
• Southern Maryland Roller Derby

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• [https://destinationsouthernmaryland.com/ National Heritage Area Website]

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Category:Regions of Maryland