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Tobacco barn in Calvert County

Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Collection

Along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Calvert County (pop 2005 est. 87,925; 2000 74,563) is Maryland’s smallest county. Once an isolated county of tobacco plantations and commercial fisheries, its economy now relies more heavily on tourism.

History
Established in 1654, Calvert County was called Patuxent County until 1658. It took its current name from the family of the second Lord Baltimore, Cecilius (Cecil) Calvert, the proprietor of the Maryland colony. Its area originally encompassed present-day Charles and Prince George’s counties as well as parts of Montgomery and Frederick counties. With the establishment of Prince George’s County in 1695, Calvert County’s boundaries became close to what they are today.

Calvert County had an active role in early American history. It was twice invaded by British troops--once in 1780 during the Revolutionary War and a second time during the War of 1812. The famous battle of Barney's flotilla, during which Commodore Joshua Barney’s fleet attempted to prevent the British from accessing Washington, D.C., through the Patuxent River, took place at the mouth of St. Leonard's Creek in Calvert County. During this engagement, the county court house and jail were burned, and most of the plantations and towns in Calvert were destroyed and had to be rebuilt.

The plantations system that Calvert depended upon died quickly after the Civil War. Tobacco, a notoriously labor-intensive crop, was supported by indentured servants from England in early colonial days and later by slaves, when indentured servitude died out. When the Civil War removed the slave labor that supported the plantation system, Calvert’s economy became dependant on the Chesapeake Bay.

Captain Isaac Solomon established the first large-scale commercial fishery in the county’s southern tip. Solomon’s Island takes its name from him. Solomon’s fleet included two designs that originated in Calvert County: the Chesapeake Bay Bugeye, and the smaller Skipjack. Calvert County resisted post-Civil War industrialization. Families descended from the original colonists remain to this day, as do many historic restaurants and family manors.

Government
Calvert County is part of the 5th Congressional District, and is represented by one member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In order to determine representatives to the state government in Annapolis, Maryland is divided into Legislative Districts. Calvert County is part of Legislative districts 27A (which it shares with Prince George’s County), 27B, and 29C (which it shares with St. Mary’s County). Each lettered subdistrict is represented by one member in the House of Delegates and each district number by one state senator. Calvert County is represented by three members in the House of Delegates (one for each lettered district) and two senators (one from district 27 and one from district 29).

The county seat is in the town of Prince Frederick. The county’s government is the pure county commissioner type, the original form of county government allowed by Maryland law. There are three commissioners on the county’s Board of Commissioners, one from each of the three districts and two from anywhere in the county (At Large). Each commissioner serves a four-year term. The president and vice president are chosen by the commissioners and serve for one year.

The county’s Board of Education has five elected officials, a president chosen by the board, the superintendent of schools, and a student member elected by public school students in grades 6−11. The five officials serve four-year terms. The president and student member both serve for one year.

Along with St. Mary’s and Charles Counties, Calvert is part of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland. Established 1964 and established by Maryland statute 1966 (reenacted by law 1976 in State legislation), the agency plans the social and economic development of the three Southern Maryland regions.

Geography
Calvert County is in the Southern Maryland peninsula. On the west it is bounded by the Patuxent River and on the east by the Chesapeake Bay. It borders Anne Arundel County on its northeastern tip and Prince George’s County on its northwestern tip. North to south, Calvert is only 30 miles long, and five to nine miles wide east to west, making it Maryland’s smallest county. The land is hilly near the bay, alternating between beaches and the Calvert Cliffs, which rise to over 100 feet in some places. Inside the county is flat agricultural land; parts of the county remain undeveloped forest.

Industry
With many beaches lining the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River, as well as several state parks, tourism is one of Calvert County’s most important industries. Solomon’s Island, Broomes Island, and Chesapeake Beach are particularly popular as resorts.

Historically, tobacco was Calvert County’s most important crop. The tobacco leaf is even depicted on the county’s flag. However, part of the U.S. government’s $4.4 billion settlement with tobacco companies was used pay farmers to stop farming tobacco. Though some few farms remain, most of Calvert’s agricultural land is used for growing grain and other crops.

Commercial fishing, crabbing and oystering, timber, and some boat building are also historical industries. They remain a part of Calvert County’s economy.

Nuclear Power
Calvert County contains two nuclear power plants in Lusby, on the southeastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 began generating electricity in 1975 and Calvert Cliffs Unit 2 began generating in 1977. The plants provide electricity to Baltimore Gas and Electric (BG&E), which services a 2,300-square-mile area around Baltimore, including parts of Harford, Baltimore, Carroll, Howard, Anne Arundel, Prince George’s, and Calvert Counties.

Fossils
The Calvert Cliffs extend for over 30 miles from just north of the town of Chesapeake Beach to Drum Point. In places they rise to over 100 feet. The cliffs contain some of the largest deposits of marine fossils from the Miocene Epoch found on North America’s east coast. The cliffs are continually eroded by the waves, freeing the fossils. Prehistoric shark’s teeth and whale vertebrae wash up onto the shore of Calvert County, and are highly prized. Complete skeletons of whales and porpoises have been found, along with bird bones and the partial remains of mastodons, peccary (a wild pig-like mammal native to North America), and small horses from the Miocene epoch. Examples can be seen at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland.

Recent Development
Over the last several decades, Calvert County has experienced a dramatic increase in population and new development. The construction of MD Route 4 in 1987 and the Thomas Johnson Bridge have aided this growth. The bridge connects Solomons to St. Mary’s County, and Route 4 is a 38-mile, four-lane highway that eases transportation between Calvert County and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Since the 1990’s, new suburbs have formed in this previously rural county.

—Mikhail Velichansky

Chesapeake Beach, Md.