St. Michaels, Maryland: The town that fooled the British

That's what the sign reads as you drive into St. Michaels, Md., perched out in the Chesapeake Bay. Less than two hours from Washington and Baltimore, it features the usual Chesapeake Bay town diversions: shopping, crab houses, and boating excursions. Several inns dot the town, making it great for a weekend getaway from many places on the East Coast, and a great day trip from Washington or Baltimore.


You'll find lots to see and do when you visit St. Michaels. Start your visit along Talbot Street, where many of the shops and restuarants reside. Continue to St. Mary's Square, where the St. Michaels bell rang at 7 a.m., noon, and 5 p.m. to measure the workday for shipbuilders. Look for the Revoluationary War-era cannon also on the Square.



English merchant James Braddock purchased the land encompassing the town the the late 1770s, and named the town after a local church and river. It got its start building Baltimore clippers in the 1800s and later bugeyes for oyster dredging. More recently, it has become a small, Victorian resort community and exporter of oysters and crabs.



But the town was tested when it faced an assault by the British during the War of 1812. The British attacked St. Michaels twice during the war, in August 1813 and in August 1814.

It was during the first attack, on August 10, 1813, that St. Michaels "fooled" the Britsh Navy . Residents got word ahead of time that the British Navy was coming to St. Michaels to attack the town and its harbor fort. Townspeople placed lanterns into the tops of trees and high on ship masts. They darkened the rest of the town. As a result, the British overshot the town, save for one house hit by cannon fire. The Cannonball House still stands close to the center of town, but is still privately owned.

The British returned a second time to St. Michaels and the Bay a year later, in 1814. No harm befell St. Michaels as the British sailed up the Bay to Baltimore. As they bombarded Ft. McHenry in Baltimore harbor , Francis Scott Key penned a poem that would become the Star Spangled Banner.

More recently, St. Michaels has played host to Vice President Dick Cheney, and the movie The Wedding Crashers.

The SidewalkGuides Team