Calvert County, Maryland

E stablished in 1654, Calvert County,Maryland is one of the oldest counties in the United States. The land that eventually became Calvert County was originally inhabited by the Piscataway Indians,who grew corn and tobacco on rich farm- lands that were to prove very attractive to colonists arriving from England in the early 1600s. John Smith is reported to be the first European to lay eyes on Calvert County's peninsula, describing it in his jour- nal as he saw it in 1608, during his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay. Calvert County has a total of 345 square miles, of which 213 square miles is land, and 132 square miles is water. It is bounded by the Chesapeake Bay on the east and the Patuxent River on the west. Steep cliffs and woods predominate on the bay side, while along the Patuxent, rolling fields slip gently down to the river.The county's many creeks provide refuge for wildlife as well as scenic areas for boat- ing and fishing. For many years, Calvert was a rural county and its main crop was tobacco.An agricultural com- munity, life there continued without much change into the 20th century. In 1936, the county had only 15.2 miles of paved roads and electrification didn’t come until 1939.However, in the 1980s and ‘90s, the character of the county began to change as road improvements and bridge construction opened it up to new residents who were drawn there from the nearby greater Washington-Arlington-Alexandria AT A GLANCE CALVERT COUNTY, MARYLAND WHAT: A county of 92,000 residents WHERE: Between Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent River WEBSITE: www.co.cal.md.us