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St. Michaels is a town in Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,193 at the 2000 census.
History
Giovanni da Verrazzano may have explored these peninsulas in 1524. Captain John Smith cruised this "delightsome land" during the summer of 1608. William Claiborne, the Virginia Secretary of State, a friend of John Smith, and later a pirate founded a trading post and settlement in 1631 just 10 miles from the current town of St. Michaels on the lee side of Kent Island across Eastern Bay.
About thirty years later, the Calvert family (the Barons Baltimore) supported settlements in Talbot County, named for the sister of Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, and wife of Sir Robert Talbot.
Frederick Augustus Bailey (later known as Frederick Douglass), famous abolitionist and later U.S. representative in Haiti, worked as a slave in and near St. Michaels before he escaped from slavery in the 1830s. Robert E. Lee slept in one of the local homes; presidents and statesmen from all over the globe vacationed on nearby Jefferson island.
James Michener lived here while researching and writing Chesapeake, Bill Veeck (as in "wreck") was a resident; Harold Baines (Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles) was born in St. Michaels and has a home here.
Land grants dating from the 1640s to the mid-1670s established much of the present periphery of the town. The river and (probably) the tiny village were known as St. Michaels before 1658. It is likely that the current name of the river, the Miles River, is a corruption of the town name, and there is at least one citation, in the will of William Hambleton of Martingham, in 1675, which refers to the "Myles" river. In about 1677, the Christ Episcopal Church of St. Michael the Archangel parish was founded on a narrow neck of land between the Miles River and Broad Creek.
During the next hundred years, forests were cleared, ships were constructed with the timber and the land tilled for tobacco. The village remained small, but attracted a number of shipwrights and craftsmen to support the small shipbuilding industry. The tobacco market waned with the advent of the American Revolution and agricultural production turned to wheat to feed Washington's troops.
In 1778, James Braddock, an agent for a British firm, purchased approximately 20 acres (80,000 m²) and subdivided St. Michaels into a planned community of 58 lots (Touart). Its contemporary neighbors then and now were already on the map. Both the nearby town of Oxford and the private ferry service from Oxford to Bellevue were already almost a hundred years old; Tilghman Island had already been a political entity for 70 years; the village of Talbot Court House (later Talbot Town, now Easton) developed in the early 1700s and had some Quaker structures from the late 1600s.
The current St. Mary's Square was the centerpiece of Braddock's plan. By the time the Treaty of Paris was signed to end the Revolutionary War in 1783, "there can be no doubt that ... (St. Michaels), though small, was firmly established (Touart). The village was incorporated as a town in 1804. Between 1804 and 1806, the village was re-surveyed and platted as three squares: Harrison's square at the north end, Thompson's square to the southwest and the original Braddock's square on the southeast end. Many of the current homes and some shops date from the late 1700s to the late 1800s and the aura on main street (Talbot Street) and the homes on side streets pleasantly reflect colonial, Federal and Victorian eras.
In the dark morning hours of August 10, 1813, a number of British barges had planned an attack on the town and a fort on the harbor side. During the Battle of St. Michaels, the residents of tiny St. Michaels, forewarned, hoisted lanterns to the masts of ships and in the tops of the trees, tricking the British by causing the cannons to overshoot the town. This first "blackout" was effective and only one house was struck. Now known as "The Cannonball House" a cannon ball penetrated the roof and rolled down the staircase as Mrs. Merchant carried her infant daughter downstairs. The house still exists as a private residence. The episode later led to the nickname, "The Town That Fooled The British".
Trivia
- St. Michaels derived its name from the Episcopal Parish established here in 1677. The church attracted settlers who engaged in tobacco growing and ship building.
- In 1805, an area was set aside for a public market known as "St. Mary's Square". Here stands a bell cast in 1841 which rang at 7a.m., noon and 5p.m. to measure the workday for the ship's carpenters in the nearby harbor and the remains of a cannon used in the defense of the town during the War of 1812.
- Former baseball player Harold Baines grew up and still lives in St. Michaels.
- The movie Wedding Crashers starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn was filmed in St Michaels in 2004.
- As of 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld both own homes in St. Michaels.
- Home of the famous Ted Doyle father of Patrick Doyle
- Vernon and Dolores Hill, parents of Vernon Hill founder of Commerce Bank, owned several homes in St. Michaels prior to their deaths.
Geography
St. Michaels is located at (38.783748, -76.222214).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²). 2.1 km² (0.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (9.89%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,193 people, 548 households, and 340 families residing in the town. The population density was 555.0/km² (1,442.1/mi²). There were 671 housing units at an average density of 312.1/km² (811.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 69.24% White, 29.25% African American, 0.17% Asian, 0.59% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 548 households out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.75.
In the town the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 21.3% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 84.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $32,578, and the median income for a family was $39,821. Males had a median income of $30,438 versus $23,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,131. About 11.1% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.8% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.
External links
"St. Michaels, Maryland"