Ridge: St. Michaels Hall and School

The Ridge area is bound together by the churches and the fire department.  The only time a deputy or state trooper is seen in the area is to take a report of burglary by a crack head or if the officer is lost.



 

St. Inigoes: Church and commerce


St. Mary's Seafood Cooperative workers above, Holy Name Society of St. Peter Claver Church, a historically black Catholic church which is always awkward for the Archdiocese of Washington.  The politically correct big wigs in the archdiocese would like to close the church, but it is a vibrant parish with strong family and community participation and support.  It remains a majority black parish which has roots in the segregation of the past.





Sisters of St. Peter Claver, St. Inigoes, Md.
This classroom, below, and assembled Sisters at St. Peter Claver
 are from The Pictorial History of the St. Inigoes Mission.

 



Potomac river cruising

The Wilson Line ran the SS Mount Vernon from Washington to Mount Vernon to
 Marshal Hall amusement park.




The past is also the future
The Navy railroad right of way carried trains to Pax River from 1943 on, bringing workers and supplies to the base and helping to create a major wartime Naval Air Station from scratch.  Here the Hampton Inn motel owner, Tommy Waring, pressured the St. Mary's Commissioners to grant an easement over the railroad right of way to his business.   Now, Maryland Senator Roy Dyson has won the support of Gov. Martin O'Malley to bring commuter rail to Southern Maryland and at sometime in the future, bring rail service back down this track to Pax River, cementing the Washington metro area to Pax NAS, giving the base a real boost in future BRAC moves.  ST. MARY'S TODAY photo




The Navy town needed churches

 When Lexington Park was created from a small village crossroads, everything was needed in 1943. 
This church became a mainstay of the rough and ready Navy town. 
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo




Lexington Park continues to evolve
The old Cato's Texaco is reduced to rubble to make way for a tire store on Great Mills Road.  
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo
Rebuilding History

 The brick chapel at St. Mary's City was the first brick Catholic Church in the English colonies.  The Royal Governor of Maryland who took over after the Protestant Rebellion, ordered all Catholic churches closed and this structure was torn down.  An effort has been underway since 1992 to rebuild the chapel. 
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo



Hope for Hurricane Damage

Del. John Bohanan (D. Lexington Park) explains how the Courtneys can obtain help for their waterfront restaurant at Wynn which suffered damage to its campground during Hurricane Isabel in 2003.  Bohanan has served as a legislative assistant to Congressman Roy Dyson and is senior advisor to Congressman Steny Hoyer.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo






 One tough old broad
Ridge resident Minnie Russell, who is articulate and in command of the facts when she takes on a cause, shown at a community meeting at the Ridge Vol. Fire Dept. firehouse.  Left, is St. Mary's Commissioner Jackie Russell.   Minnie and Beth McCoy took on the full bureaucracy of St. Mary's County and whipped them good over the issue of naming Rt. 5 south of Leonardtown.  The government factions wanted to name it "Leonardtown Road all the way to Point Lookout, which made absolutely no sense at all to Minnie and Beth.   They did their homework, got signatures on petitions and won the battle in 1995, and to this day the highway bears the name "Point Lookout Road". 
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo






Two great B.S. artists finally meet!

 ST. MARY'S TODAY columnist Jack Rue, left, and President Bill Clinton, right, talk at a ceremony at Pax River NAS where the President released an eagle which had been previously injured.  When the eagle soared, a couple of ospreys attacked it. The year was 1996.



The Eagle ready for takeoff

President Bill Clinton prepares to launch this Eagle, which had been healed at the Patuxent Wildlife Center.  ST. MARY'S TODAY photo by Mike Carrico





 Tippecanoe and Great Mills too!

 St. Mary's Commissioners Dan Raley (D. Great Mills) and Larry Jarboe (R. Golden Beach) at dedication of the canoe and kayak launching park on Rt. 5 in Great Mills. 
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo




One of America's best small town mayors
Leonardtown Mayor J. Harry "Chipper" Norris.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo

 
Democrat of the Year: Larry Millison, 1989
Left, 3-term St. Mary's Commissioner Larry Millison, State Senator Paul J. Bailey, a Republican, and Maryland Senate President Mike Miller (D. Calvert, P.G.) at a St. Mary's Democratic Club Democrat of the Year banquet held at the Cedar Point Officers Club at Pax River.  Millison was appointed to the St. Mary's County Board of Education by Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel and was elected to the post of commissioner in 1974, 1978 and 1982.  A businessman and developer, he owned the Belvedere Motel and Restaurant, raised racehorses and was a slot machine operator. 
 Bailey was elected to the State Senate in 1946, 1950, 1966, 1970. Miller is the longest serving Senate President in Maryland, and perhaps America and now has white hair.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo



Miller and Owings --- The Political Joy Boys of Calvert

 Sen. Mike Miller and Del. George Owings at the swearing in of Owings as the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Maryland. 
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo


 

Sharing the podium

Sen. Mike Miller, right, at opening day of the Maryland General Assembly in January, 2007, with Gov. Martin O'Malley, center, and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown.  
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo by Jim Davis


Swearing in for another term as Delegate
Calvert Delegate George Owings, first appointed to the vacant Delegate seat created when Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer appointed Del. Thomas Rymer to the Circuit Court in 1987.  Owings went on to win election in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo




Firefighter Commissioner

St. Mary's Commissioner Tom Mattingly Sr., left, helps to hook up an attack line for a fire in Leonardtown.  Mattingly, a veteran of the fire service, is a past president of the Maryland Firemen's Association and has been elected to three terms as a county commissioner.  
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo




1960 Presidential Campaign:

Bobby Kennedy greets St. Mary's Democrats

 Left to right: Clarke Mattingley, Mockie Guy, Bill Raley, Robert F. Kennedy, Joe Taylor,  
Harry Lancaster Sr., J. Frank Raley and Frank Coombs. 
Photo courtesy of Randy Guy




St. Mary's Circuit Court Judge Marvin Kaminetz

 The judge shows off the new circuit courthouse in Leonardtown.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo



 Rail Ho!

St. Mary's Commissioner Larry Jarboe  (R. Golden Beach), Sen. Roy Dyson (D. St. Mary's, Calvert, Charles) and Del. John Bohanan (D. Lexington Park) attend a 2003 meeting in Annapolis in their long effort to bring commuter rail to Southern Maryland. 
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo


St. Mary's first woman Judge

 St. Mary's Circuit Court Judge Karen Abrams following her election victory over contenders Richard Fritz and Sean Dugan.  At right is the campaign treasurer for Abrams, Anne Marum. 
 ST. MARY'S TODAY photo 



Cheers for the Judge

 Del. Ernie Bell, right, with Sen. Roy Dyson, left at campaign rally for Judge Karen Abrams. 
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo



Learning from the masters of politics

Roy Dyson, left, was elected to five terms as Congressman from the 1st Congressional District of Maryland, which included all of Southern Maryland and nine counties on the Eastern Shore.   Dyson, is shown here with Maryland Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, who served 40 years as comptroller and U. S. House of Representatives Speaker Tip O'Neil.   Dyson lost re-election in 1990 to Rep. Wayne Gilchrest and was elected to the Maryland Senate in 1994. 




Sign on the dotted line

Sen. Roy Dyson with Governor Marvin Mandel, right.



Quade's Store, Bushwood Wharf, Md.

Quade's store rents small skiffs with motors and sells bait and gas, is open every day for breakfast and still operates a country grocery.

ST. MARY'S TODAY photo



The Budweiser Clydesdales parade through Leonardtown, with New Theatre in the background.
The year, about 1988.



Leonardtown in the 1950's




Piney Point Lighthouse



During the early 1800's this was the summer resort of several Presidents.  Located on the Potomac River, the lighthouse keepers house and lighthouse are restored.
ST. MARY'S TODAY Photos






Buzzy's store in Ridge






The historic Roost restaurant opened in 1947 by

Jack Rue who sold it to Fran Harris in 1961.  

The Roost, located a block from the main gate of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Lexington Park, Md. has been for sale for a number of years
 and recently was closed down without a buyer.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo





Smiths Barber Shop, Scotland, Maryland. 

This was Guffrie Smith's place for decades,
father of nationally famous basketball coach Tubby Smith.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo




Historic St. Andrews Episcopal Church

Located on Rt. 4 (St. Andrews Church Road), halfway between
Leonardtown and California.

ST. MARY'S TODAY photo




Colton's Point, Md.

ST. MARY'S TODAY photo




Manor House at Scotland

This old house has spent most of the past twenty years up for sale.

ST. MARY'S TODAY photo



Tornado which Leveled Much of La Plata, April 2002




The wreckage of the LaPlata rescue squad
ST. MARY'S TODAY photos



Surf's Up

This house on St. George's Island was built above the flood plain, minimizing the damage from Isabel.



St. Georges Island under water during Hurricane Isabel
Water still had not receded the morning after the storm hit the area in Sept. of 2003.   




This shot of Stinnett's in North Beach, Md. was taken

during Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

The storm and a series of arson fires spelled the doom of the historic eatery.

Photo by Cheryl Emery




St. Mary's Hotel, Leonardtown, Md.

Photo courtesy of Town Commissioners of Leonardtown



The late Fred McCoy on his farm St. Gabriel's Manor, Scotland.

ST. MARY'S TODAY photo




Gov. Robert Ehrlich

Arriving for ground breaking of Carver Elementary School in Lexington Park.

Governor Ehrlich Broke the Hold of Democrats on State House in 2002 and then lost the post of governor to Martin O'Malley in 2006.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo



George Sparling, St. Mary's States Attorney 1974 - 1978

One of the area's best attorneys, Sparling ran an unsuccessful race in 2006 for Circuit Court Judge.

ST. MARY'S TODAY photo



Follow the Leader?

St. Mary's States Attorney Walter B. Dorsey supported the 1998 Democratic candidate for his post, Assistant States Attorney Joseph A. Mattingly Jr. against Republican Richard Fritz. 
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo


A Thinner Dorsey

Walter B. Dorsey at a 2002 campaign event with Maryland Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, right.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo


A Prettier Dorsey

Helen Dorsey, daughter of Walter B. Dorsey and the late Jeanne Dorsey Mandel, with Congressman Steny Hoyer.
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo


Dorsey Campaign Committee Meets

In 1958, the supporters of Walter B. Dorsey met to plan election strategy.  Left to right, Mockie Guy, Joe Bean, J. McGuire,  (Mac) Mattingly, Walter B. Dorsey, Marvin Joy - former Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Bill Boyd, Sterling Tennison.
Photo courtesy of Sen. Walter B. Dorsey


 
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Maryland's First Lady Jeanne Dorsey Mandel greets the Charles-St. Mary's County legislators,
Del. Mike Sprague, Sen. Jim Simpson, Del. Roy Dyson in the Governor's Mansion for breakfast.  
 Photo courtesy of Sen. Roy Dyson


St. Mary's College of Maryland.



 

Bar Association Meeting:  (left to right) - 
 
    a.  Norman Yates - standing up (Chief Judge Orphans Court),
 
    b.  Charles Marbury - Chief Judge Seventh Judicial Circuit and later Assoc. Judge MD Court of Appeals,
 
    c.  Third Man Standing - William Knight (District Court Judge),
 
    d.  Squatting - Philip H. Dorsey, later Chief Judge Seventh Judicial Circuit,
 
    e.  William O. E. Sterling - (later St. Mary's first District Court Judge).
 

St. Mary's Bar Association
Photo courtesy of Sen. Walter B. Dorsey




Large crabs only 5 cents each, soft crabs were 50 cents a dozen.
Photo courtesy of Malcolm Morris



10-Term Winner Louis L. Goldstein spreads the magic

Congressman Roy Dyson with Comptroller Louie Goldstein at a fundraiser during the 1982 election. Goldstein first one election as Comptroller in 1958 and kept the post until he died in 1998.
Photo courtesy of Dyson family.



Veterans Campaign for Steny Hoyer

Former State Senator Bernie Fowler, front right, poses with Durwood Wiley and other local veterans at the Calif. Md. VFW hall with Hoyer during the 2004 election. 
ST. MARY'S TODAY photo



The Beacon Newspaper building in 1957, Leonardtown, Md.


St. Mary's County Bar Association, 1947
 

(left to right) -
   
    a.  William O. E. Sterling, b.  Henry Camalier,  c.  Philip H. Dorsey, d.  Joseph Weiner, e.  Paul Bailey
    
    f.  Bob Wiggington, g.  Alec Loker,  h.  Joseph Mattingly,  i.  Aloysius King - bow tie,  i.  Kingsley Love - (Republican Candidate for Congress approx. five times.

Photo courtesy of Sen. Walter B. Dorsey


1832 St. Mary's Circuit Courthouse, Leonardtown, Md.
Photo courtesy of Town of Leonardtown


Duke Building, Leonardtown, Maryland.

Crowd waits on the Town Square.  


Aunt Bessie Morris with Helen Morris and a Model T Ford
Photo courtesy of Malcolm Morris


Adams Floating Theatre visits Leonardtown. 

 



Aunt Bessie Morris and friends at the beach in 1920.  Photos courtesy of Malcolm Morris


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