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Located just 45 minutes south of the Washington Capital Beltway in Calvert County, Maryland, Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum is a state history and archaeology museum exploring the changing cultures and environment of the Chesapeake Bay region of the past 12,000 years. Visitors can investigate thousands of years of human history by touring archaeological sites and trails, acres of working farmland, restored farm buildings and museum exhibits, and by attending educational programs.
Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum is part of the Maryland Historical Trust, an agency of the Department of Housing and Community Development, Crownsville, Maryland.
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Jefferson Patterson and Park and Museum, a 544-acre park , is located along 2.5 miles of Patuxent River waterfront and St. Leonard Creek in Calvert County. Mrs. Jefferson Patterson donated the property to the State of Maryland in 1983. Archaeological surveys of the property have revealed over 70 sites spanning 9,000 years of human history. Research has also revealed this to be the home of Maryland's first Attorney General, Richard Smith, and his descendant, Margaret Mackall Smith, wife of President Zachary Taylor. During the War of 1812, the largest naval battle in Maryland's history took place here. The Park is now home to a state history and archaeology museum that explores the changing cultures and environment of the Chesapeake Bay region over the past 12,000 years.
The Visitor Center contains museum exhibits, hands-on Discovery Room for children, and the Show Barn Museum Shop. The Farm Exhibit Building houses a regional collection of Southern Maryland farm equipment, including a 20,000-pound steam traction engine. Three trails take visitors through a mixed hardwood forest or to open fields along the Patuxent River where visitors can see archaeologist's interpretation of 17th century life at the site.
The museum offers a wide variety of public educational programs for children, adults, and families. Special events, which are offered throughout the public season, include the Celtic Festival of Southern Maryland, African-American Family Community Day, Children's Day on the Farm, War of 1812 Reenactment and Tavern Night, and Native American Technology Day. The summer program in Public Archaeology welcomes visitors to join staff archaeologists as they survey and excavate archaeological sites on the property.
The Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab), located at Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum, is a 38,000 square foot, state-of-the-art archaeological research, conservation, and collections storage facility. Over 4.5 million artifacts from archaeological sites in Maryland are curated at the MAC Lab. The collections are available for research, education, and exhibit purposes to students, scholars, museum curators, and educators. The Research Library in the MAC Lab contains over 10,000 references dealing with such topics as Native American life, archaeology, history, agriculture, historic agriculture, historic architecture, and the identification and conservation of artifacts, the Chesapeake Bay environment, and museum studies. Tours are given on the 1st Friday of every month.
Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum offers many special programs throughout the season, including heritage celebrations, children's activities, tours, concerts, dances, lectures, and educational programs. JPPM also provides preservation services and artifact conservation; and conducts important archaeological research. The Park is the proud home of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory.
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