Man and the River
Footprints Along the Shore
The shores of the Patuxent River bear evidence of human habitation dating back more than 8,000 years. Along the River many tribes of Indians practiced primitive farming, pottery making, and hunting with bow and arrow.
The New World colonists brought bustling trade to the River, and port towns developed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
The Patuxent was crucial to both the Americans and British in the War of 1812. Commodore Joshua Barney's Chesapeake Bay Flotilla was trapped near Upper Marlboro in August of 1814, and scuttled to avoid capture by the British.
In the early 1900s, steamboats replaced sailing ships, ferrying passengers, goods, and tobacco between the dozens of wharves and Baltimore. By the early 20th century, sedimentation and the decline of shipping due to competition from truck and rail transportation marked the end of commerce on the river.
Today, man primarily uses the river for drinking water supply, recreation and discharge of treated sewage. For the Patuxent, as well as for the entire Bay, our task is to balance man's need to use and enjoy the river with the needs of the resource we are trying to protect.
(Illustration captions) Captain John Smith, Commodore Joshua Barney, Laurel Cotton Mill, Sturgeon Skiff, Chesapeake Beach Railway Crossing near Calvert, Steamboat near Wayson's Corner.
Marker is on Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Driving Tour Road, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
