Maryland Day Blog

On Maryland Day weekend, between Friday, March 23 and Sunday, March 25, 2012, museums and historic sites in the Four Rivers Heritage Area (Annapolis and Southern Anne Arundel County) will be offering many activities for you to help complete your Maryland Heritage Badge! Details will be available on this website after March 1 for be sure to check back.

It may not be Thanksgiving yet, but it's never too early to start thinking about plans for Maryland Day Celebration 2012. Our partner sites are hard at work as we write this developing wonderful new activities and events for our 5th Annual Maryland Day Celebration, taking place the weekend of March 23 - 25. What is Maryland Day, you say? Just click on the tab above for a comprehensive history by a noted, local historian, Dr. Jean Russo! For Four Rivers and its partners, Maryland Day Celebration is an opportunity to share the fantastic historic, cultural, and natural resources of the Heritage Area with you. Check back soon for details about the 2012 Celebration. Remember - all Maryland Day events and activities are $1 or less!

Maryland Day Celebration 2011 is making waves in the press world! The event has been featured in "One Maryland," the Governor's weekly e-newsletter (twice!), in "10 for the Road" on Philly.com on March 6, the March edition of What's Up magazine, on DC.About.com (http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/Maryland-Day-Celebration.htm), and on Maryland Family Magazine online (http://www.marylandfamilymagazine.com/2011/03/23/maryland-day-celebration-this-weekend-with-plenty-of-family-fun/). Executive Director Carol Benson was also interviewed by the Baltimore Sun and by WNAV radio! Participating sites are doing a great job of getting the word out about their individual events. Keep up the good work!

A lengthy and richly-detailed essay about Maryland Day appears on the blog of the Maryland State Archivist, Dr. Ed Papenfuse. Please click on the link below to read this entertaining and informative entry:  http://marylandarchivist.blogspot.com/2010/03/celebrating-maryland-day-spirit-of-1634.html

We thank Dr. Papenfuse for sharing the fruits of his research!

-- Carol B.

Last year, four days after our 2009 Maryland Day event, a fax came to the Four Rivers Heritage Area office. It was a handwritten letter from a Mrs. Valerie McCahon from Pasadena. This is what it said:

 "To whom it may concern:
My husband and I attended the celebration of Maryland Day on Sunday 3/28/09. We were accompanied by our granddaughter and grandson. I just wanted to take a moment to express our gratitude for this great and awesome experience.
I am 63 years old and a native of Maryland. I never realized the scope of the availability of the historical opportunities that exist for our pleasure. The entire day was enlightening, educational, and entertaining. I do hope that you are planning to offer this marvelous event again in the future.
As my 9-year-old grandson said, 'MomMom, this city of Annapolis is neat! Can we come again?' I suppose that sums it up!
Sincerely, Valerie McCahon"

This year we contacted Mrs. McCahon to ask her permission to share her letter, and she told us that she would definitely come back to enjoy Maryland Day activities again this year. Thank you, Mrs. McCahon!

The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route (W3R) is a series of encampments and roads commemorating the activity of French troops under the command of Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau and their key role in the Revolutionary War.

Between the years 2000 and 2008, the United States has been celebrating the 225th anniversary of the American Revolutionary War. The aid and assistance of France was crucial for the success of the war. The most visible expression of this assistance is the presence of French forces under the comte de Rochambeau in America from July 1780 to May 1783 and their participation in the victory at Yorktown in October 1781. Maryland's substantial role in this victory is largely unrecognized. Congress authorized the National Park Service in December 2000 to conduct a study to determine the eligibility of the route, tentatively identified as the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route (W3R), taken by the combined Franco-American forces from Newport, RI, and Newburgh, NY, to Virginia, for designation as a National Historic Trail. That designation is part of a larger omnibus bill, S.22, which was passed by the U.S. Senate earlier this year and is currently under consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rochambeau's troops camped at nearby Belvoir between September 18th and 21st, 1781. The majority of these boarded ships here in Annapolis to be transported down the Chesapeake Bay. The ox-drawn wagon train and horse-mounted hussars traveled south separately, overland.

Submitted by Carol Benson on 02/24/10. Would you like to submit a blog entry? Email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .