Port Tobacco Village, Maryland
116405
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2008-05-21T19:39:50Z
Tedickey
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dab Rose Hill
{{Infobox Settlement
|official_name = Port Tobacco Village, Maryland
|settlement_type = [[Town]]
|nickname =
|motto =
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|subdivision_name = [[United States]]
|subdivision_type1 = [[Political divisions of the United States|State]]
|subdivision_name1 = [[Maryland]]
|subdivision_type2 = [[List of counties in Maryland|County]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[Charles County, Maryland|Charles]]
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|area_total_sq_mi = 0.2
|area_land_sq_mi = 0.2
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|population_as_of = [[United States Census, 2000|2000]]
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|population_total = 15
|population_density_km2 = 36.3
|population_density_sq_mi = 94.0
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|latd = 38 |latm = 30 |lats = 41 |latNS = N
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'''Port Tobacco''', officially '''Port Tobacco Village''', is a town in [[Charles County, Maryland|Charles County]], [[Maryland]], [[United States]]. The population was 15 at the 2000 census, making Port Tobacco the smallest incorporated town in Maryland. <ref>[http://www.charlescounty.org/PGM/planning/publications/demotrends/vol5_2.pdf Census 2000.] (2001, April). ''Charles County Demographic'' 5(2), p. 1. Retrieved July 21, 2007 (Adobe Acrobat Reader required for viewing).</ref>
Established in [[1727]], the town has become almost a ghost town since the County court house was moved to [[La Plata, MD]] in 1895. The former court house has been rebuilt, however, as a tiny historical museum. A few miles south, colonial-era St. Ignatius Church and cemetery are notable for their scenic view of the River below. [[John Hanson]], President of the U.S. [[Continental Congress]], was born nearby.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://mdmunicipal.org/cities/index.cfm?townname=PortTobacco&page=home
|title=Port Tobacco
|publisher=Maryland Municipal League
|accessdate=2007-10-04
}}</ref>
==History==
{{refimprove|date=August 2007}}
In colonial and early American times Port Tobacco was once the second largest town in Maryland. It declined as silt and tidal action changed the [[Port Tobacco River]] and coastline ships became larger, cutting it off from the sea. When it was bypassed by the railroads in the nineteenth century, the decline continued. (See article on [[La Plata, MD]]).
Port Tobacco was one of the oldest communities on the East Coast of the [[United States]]. It first existed as the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] settlement of '''Potopaco'''. It was [[colonized]] by the [[English people|English]] [[1634]], and became a major port. Its remains today are identified as Port Tobacco Village.
During the late 1600s, Tobacco became the second largest [[river port]] in Maryland and was the original [[county seat]] of Charles County from 1658. In addition to being a hot spot for Port Tobacco Courthouse confederate conspiracy and a part of [[John Wilkes Booth]]’s escape route, Port Tobacco suffered from local conflict as well. Within a generation of the landing of the first Maryland settlers at [[St. Clement's Island]], the frontiers of the colony were pushed north and west toward the [[Potomac River|Potomac]] and Port Tobacco Rivers. A small village developed on the east side of this Port Tobacco tributary, forming a nucleus for [[trade]] and [[government]], which in [[1658]] became the county seat of the new County of Charles.
The early inhabitants of Port Tobacco were products of the religious turmoil in England, and their deeply felt convictions were to be a powerful determinant in the course of Maryland's history. Freed from restraints by the [[Toleration Act]] of [[1649]] and feeling a need for spiritual guidance, these settlers gathered their first simple [[Anglican church]] in a log building at the head of the Port Tobacco Creek. The year was [[1683]], nine years before the [[Establishment Act]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christchurchlaplata.com/history.html |title=A History of Christ Church, Port Tobacco Parish, Established 1692 |accessdate=2007-11-22 }}</ref>
Supported by the tobacco poll tax of 40 pounds per head 1692-1776, Christ Church prospered. Faced with the loss of this colonial financial support after the [[American Revolution]], parishioners rallied and Christ Church survived. During this era a second building was constructed in [[1709]]; It served the Parish for nearly a century before it was destroyed by a [[tornado]] in [[1808]]. Replaced by a brick structure, financed by [[lotteries]], it was first occupied in [[1827]]. Falling into disrepair after 60 years of use, it was demolished and replaced with a stone edifice in [[1884]].
For two centuries of its life, Christ Church had surveyed activities in the square of a busy trading town and county seat. It saw its parishioners go to fight for independence in the American Revolution and the [[War of 1812]]; it saw its patriots, [[John Hanson]], [[President of the United States]] in Congress Assembled, [[Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer]], a signer of the [[Constitution of the United States]], and [[Thomas Stone]], one of the four signers of the [[Declaration of Independence]] for Maryland, help form a strong confederation; it saw the occupation of its town by Union troops, the intrigue perpetuated by the [[Abraham Lincoln assassination|Lincoln assassination]], and it was there when a strong Union was established after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. It witnessed the political battles to move the County Seat. Next door, it saw the Court House burn and Port Tobacco begin to die when a [[railroad]] came to La Plata. A vote was taken to move the county seat to [[La Plata]] where the railroad industry was becoming more resourceful than the [[seaport]] of Port Tobacco, but the vote did not pass. Then in [[1892]], the center part of the courthouse was burned in a mysterious fire and the county seat was moved to La Plata in 1895.
Sites to visit include the reconstructed [[Port Tobacco Courthouse]] that is furnished as a [[19th Century]] courtroom and has exhibits on [[tobacco]] and archaeological finds located upstairs; [[Catslide House]], one of the four surviving [[18th Century]] homes in the area; the restored one-room Schoolhouse that is the original structure built in [[1876]] and used until [[1953]]; and [[Thomas Stone National Historic Site]], the plantation home of one of the four signers of the Declaration of Independence.
== Port Tobacco Folklore ==
===Legend of the Blue Dog===
[[Halloween]] always reminds local residents of Charles County's "Blue Dog" legend, which has been spun in the county for more than 100 years and is taught in local schools. By most accounts and local lore, the spirit of a large blue dog protects his murdered master's treasure, buried somewhere on [[Rose Hill (Port Tobacco, Maryland)|Rose Hill]] Road outside Port Tobacco. According to Rose Hill Road resident Charles Stuart, whose property contains the fabled rock that Blue Dog and his master were killed on, the first written account of the Blue Dog legend dates back to [[1897]], when his home's former owner, Olivia Floyd who was a former agent for the Confederacy during the Civil War, told the Port Tobacco Times she had seen the ghost of the Blue Dog.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/elections/bal-halloween-ghost8,0,1078963,full.story?coll=bal-home-headlines
|title=Washington stayed here, as does loyal dog's ghost
|author=Faith Hayden
|publisher=Baltimore Sun
|date=September 29, 2002
|accessdate=2007-10-04
}}</ref>
Although he hasn't seen the ghost of Blue Dog on February 8 in the 20 years he has lived on Rose Hill Road, Stuart, "doesn't doubt" the accounts of that date following the Revolutionary War, when Charles Thomas Sims, a soldier, and his dog were killed on Rose Hill Road while returning from a Port Tobacco Tavern.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22maryland+independent%22+%22port+tobacco+times%22&btnG=Search
|title=Port Tobacco Historic District
|publisher=Charles County Economic Development/Tourism Office
|accessdate=2007-10-04
}}</ref>
Stuart said that Henry Hanos of Port Tobacco killed Sims and his dog for his gold and a deed to an estate. Hanos then buried the gold and deed under a holly tree along Rose Hill Road. When Hanos returned to recover the treasure, he was scared away by the ghost of Blue Dog and then fell ill, before suddenly dying. To this day, Blue Dog continues to watch over his slain master's treasure.
==Demographics==
As of the [[census]]{{GR|2}} of 2000, there were 15 people, 5 households, and 5 families residing in the town. The [[population density]] was 94.0 people per square mile (36.2/km²). There were 6 housing units at an average density of 37.6/sq mi (14.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 60.00% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 26.67% [[African American (U.S. Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], 6.67% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], and 6.67% from two or more races.
There were 5 households out of which 40.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 60.0% have a female householder with no husband present. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 2.80.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.0% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $100,992, and the median income for a family was $102,264. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $43,017. There are no families below the poverty line.
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
*[http://www.mdmunicipal.org/cities/index.cfm?townname=PortTobacco&page=home Web page of Port Tobacco Village, Maryland]
*[http://porttobacco.blogspot.com/ Web page and blog regarding the Port Tobacco Archaeological Project]
*[http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=963 Port Tobacco] at Historical Marker Database
*[http://city.statelawyers.com/City_Detail.cfm/StateID:20/CityID:7614 Contact Information for Port Tobacco Village, Maryland]
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{{Charles County, Maryland}}
[[Category:Charles County, Maryland]]
[[Category:Towns in Maryland]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Maryland]]
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