While the new Maryland Dove is away, 1978 Dove will be open to visitors at Historic St. Mary’s City

Historic St. Mary’s City schedule:

1978 Dove open Tuesday – Saturday, September 6 – 14, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The new Maryland Dove, a 84 foot wooden ship from Historic St. Mary’s City (HSMC), will be visiting Annapolis September 9 – 11, 2022. The public is invited during this time to get a glimpse of what traveling by water was like for the first European settlers and to see the beautiful ship in person. 

In 2018, HSMC announced that the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) had been selected to build a brand-new Maryland Dove. The ship, a replica of the 17th-century trading vessel that accompanied the first European settlers to what is now Maryland, is owned by the state of Maryland, and operated and maintained by the Historic St. Mary’s City Commission. An earlier version of the ship, built in the 1970s by Cambridge’s Jim Richardson, was nearing the end of its useful life and decades of new research meant that a new ship could be designed to be a more historically accurate representation of the original Maryland Dove. After four years of planning, designing, and construction, on August 27, 2022 the newly built Maryland Dove arrived home in Historic St. Mary’s City. This iconic ship will now be traveling to several ports around the Chesapeake Bay to celebrate its completion. With assistance from the Maryland Heritage Authority and a Multi-Heritage Area Grant, the first port of call will be the City Dock in Annapolis, Maryland. 

The ship is scheduled to arrive in Annapolis late Thursday evening, September 8. Maryland Dove will be open as a dockside exhibit from 1- 6 p.m. Friday, September 9, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (September 10 and 11). 

Peter Friesen, HSMC Director of Education says about the tour, “Not only will this Heritage Tour public program showcase all of the important work done at HSMC, but it will bring HSMC to the other Heritage Areas of Maryland as we share our stories of discovery and achievement with the rest of Maryland’s citizens.”

The celebration will continue through the year as the new Maryland Dove tours the Chesapeake Bay, sharing the exhibit with Marylanders at different ports of call. 

The City Dock is located at Dock St, Annapolis, MD 21401.