Historic Maryland church opens doors to visitors 320 years after closing down

St. Mary City’s Brick Chapel was center of Catholic worship in Maryland until 1704

Visitors have been able to step into a reconstructed 17th-century Catholic church in Maryland for the first time – an opportunity over 320 years in the making.

Historic St. Mary’s City, an archaeological organization, opened up its Brick Chapel on April 12. The building was originally constructed in 1667. St. Mary’s City is a colonial town located in St. Mary’s County, off the western shore of Chesapeake Bay.

Fox News Digital spoke to Henry Miller, Ph.D., a senior research fellow at Historic St. Mary’s City, about the opening, the result of multiple excavations since 1988. (See the video at the top of this article.) 

While a wooden chapel was first built on the site in 1645, the structure burned down when Maryland was attacked by troops from the English Parliament.

“But in the 1660s, things had settled down, and the Brick Chapel, the first major brick building in Maryland, began to be constructed,” Miller said. “It was a very significant architectural achievement for the time and place.”