Patuxent River - History

History

Indians have lived along the Patuxent River since at least 6500 BC. An archaeological dig at Pig Point (just north of Jug Bay at the end of Wrighton Road) uncovered the oldest known artifacts in the Mid Atlantic states, including pottery, arrow and spear points and remnants of wigwams, fires and foodways. The site was probably a center of trade in the region and has one of the best unbroken archaeological records on the East Coast. The Pig Point site includes the oldest structures ever found in Maryland, wigwam post holes dating to the 3rd century.

The Patuxent River was first named ("Pawtuxunt") on the detailed map resulting from the 1608 voyage upriver by Jamestown, Virginia settler John Smith. Captain Smith got as far as the rough vicinity of the present-day Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary (Lyons Creek) area, 40 miles (60 km) from the Chesapeake near what is now the Anne Arundel - Calvert - Prince George's County tripoint. This was most likely the second visit by Europeans to the Patuxent, as in June 1588 a small Spanish expedition under Vicente Gonzalez is believed to have anchored for the night in the Patuxent mouth by Kent Mountford. By the mid and late 17th century respectively, colonists spread upriver to Mt. Calvert and Billingsley Point, two 18th century mansions 44 miles (71 km) upriver from the Chesapeake that are today part of Patuxent River Park. By the early 18th century, the Snowden iron ore furnace (also known as Patuxent Furnace) just southeast of Laurel, Maryland, was shipping "pig iron" downriver from the current vicinity of the 1783 Montpelier Mansion, also part of Patuxent River Park.

In August 1814, Commodore Joshua Barney and his Chesapeake Bay Flotilla were trapped in the Patuxent by the British fleet under Admiral Sir George Cockburn. To keep them from British hands, Barney's men ignited the magazines of his ships in the four mile (6 km) stretch above Pig Point (44 miles (71 km) upriver from the Chesapeake and named after Snowden's "pig iron") when the British approached. The British then launched their attack on Washington, D.C., from their warships in the Patuxent at Benedict. 22 miles (35 km) From there, the troops marched through, Nottingham, Upper Marlboro, Bladensburg and on to Washington.