"Leonardtown" a Leonardtown Travel Page by grandmaR

Mural of Leonardtown in the old days. This is a picture the April 26, 1865 arrest of Congressman Benjamin Harris by Union officers on the porch of the Fenwick Hotel for opposing the Civil War. Cong. Harris lived just outside of Leonardtown at Ellensborough and is buried there. Ellensborough is still there and friends of ours live there.

Leonard Calvert and his settlers arrived in St. Mary's County in 1634. In 1654, some business of the county was transacted in the area known as Newton which is the present Leonardtown area. In 1708 the town was named Seymour Town or Seymourville for John Seymour, the Royal Governor. The name was changed in 1733 to Leonardtown to honor Benedict Leonard Calvert the first Governor of Maryland. The first post office there was opened in 1792.

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Sepiaized photo of Leonardtown 2004

Leonardtown 2004

In 1858, Leonardtown incorporated and is still the only incorporated municipality in the county. Today, Leonardtown (which has a population of 1,800+) is governed by an elected Mayor and five member Town Council, all of whom serve for two year terms.

In the mural above, the left side of the painting presents an older time period, around the turn of the century. As you move to the right, the chronology advances to a point in the mid-1950s. McCrory's from the 50s is on the right edge next to the Fenwick Hotel, and the building that was McCrory's is still there. The Fenwick is still there, although it isn't a hotel anymore.

Not in the mural is the center square with the memorial (In the mural, you can see right down to the waterfront). The old movie theatre next to the Fenwick Hotel (now a restaurant) is also NOT in the mural. The sepia photo is more or less the same view as the mural taken in 2004.

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Bank of America Branch

Progress overtakes a small town

This is the building which used to be the Maryland National Bank. Their slogan used to be "Where other banks have their branches is where we have our roots". Obviously it has now become a branch. I think the building next to it with the blue awning was the telephone company.

There are many historic buildings in Leonardtown including Tudor Hall (formerly used as the headquarters of the St. Mary's County library system), Camalier mansion (which is now a law office), and the old jail which is now a museum.

The National Register for Historic Properties lists four buildings in Leonardtown.

1 Abell house 22530 Washington St., MD 326 Leonardtown 2003-12-22

2 Buena Vista MD 5, W of jct. of MD 245 and MD 379 Leonardtown 1998-08-19

3 St. Andrew's Church 5 mi. E of Leonardtown on St. Andrew's Church Rd. Leonardtown 1973-03-14

4 Tudor Hall Tudor Hall Rd. Leonardtown 1973-04-26

I have pictures of Tudor Hall, Camalier House and the Old Jail on this page, and pictures of St. Andrew's Church under St. Andrews Estates, but I'll have to look up Abell House, and Buena Vista and get a photo of Ellensborough.