Four-stop tour for replica of vessel that came to the Bay in the 1600s
This year, the Maryland Dove will be sailing to different ports-of-call around the Chesapeake Bay thanks to a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority. After being built in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the state-funded ship was commissioned and delivered to Historic St. Mary’s City in August of 2022.
During the Bay Tour, Maryland Dove will be open to the public for free deck tours at each of the heritage areas for one to three days at a time. “We look forward to partnering with fellow heritage areas to help connect the traveling exhibit with communities further away than our typical audience,” said Peter Friesen, director of education for Historic St. Mary's City.
Maryland Dove and its dockside exhibits emphasize the waterways of the region, pre-colonial heritage, and interactions between different cultures. The ship and its exhibits are designed to elicit conversation, highlighting the depth of history represented in the area and the interactions between Native peoples and European colonists. The Dove is a unique representative of the complicated history, representing colonization and the effects on those that called the land home.
The first stop on the Bay Tour will be Baltimore. The Dove will be docked in Fells Point at the Broadway Pier (920 South Broadway Street) for three days: June 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; June 21, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and June 22, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Street parking and parking garages are available.
From there, the ship will sail to Havre de Grace, MD, and be open to the public on June 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. The Dove will be docked at Hutchins Memorial Park (100 Congress Avenue).
The next stop will be Cambridge, MD, on June 30 and July 1, both days open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Long Wharf (2 Yacht Club Drive).
The final stop is Crisfield, MD, September 1 to 3 for the town’s National Hard Crab Derby. The Dove will be docked at Somers Cove Marina (715 Broadway Street) and open to the public 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. all three days.
Maryland Dove sails as a steward of Historic St. Mary’s City and a representation of a cargo vessel that arrived, along with the passenger ship Ark, in 1634. When not traveling, in general, the new Maryland Dove can be found docked in Historic St. Mary's City from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
