Compiled by Joe Leger
Current owner of Archer's Hays House
11806 Rivershore Drive
Dunkirk, MD 20754
| 1529 | Earliest known date of reference to the Chesapeake - the "Rivero-Weimar Map of 1529 |
| 1588 | Captain Vincente Gonzales, Spanish Navy, explored coastline north of Florida, including the Chesapeake, and was the first to make reference to the Patuxent River |
| 1606 | Establishment of a permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia |
| 1608 | Calvert Cliffs "discovered" by Captain John Smith who also explored the Patuxent in detail |
| 1621 | Exploration of the Patuxent by John Pory and Etinien Moll from Virginia |
| 1634 | The vessels "The Ark" and "The Dove" arrive at St. Mary's River with the first colonists of Maryland. |
| 1634 | The town of St. Mary's is founded by Leonard Calvert and remains the capital of Maryland until 1695 |
| 1642 | Henry Bishop had established a residence on the north shore of St. Leonard's Creek, becoming the first european to reside on the Patuxent |
| 1648 | Migration of 118 Puritan settlers, headed by Richard Bennett, settled in Anne Arundel on the Severn River. |
| 1650 | Anne Arundel formed as a county. |
| 1654 | Calvert County formed as one of the original Maryland counties. |
| 1654 | Battletown, on Battle Creek (named after Brooke's first wife's (Mary Baker's) birth place in Battle, Sussex, England) envisioned to be seat of Calvert County by Robert Brooke |
| 1658 | First known reference of land being deeded to Peter Archer (Archer's Hays) record of Archer's Meadows. |
| ~1663 to 1672 | Archer's Hays plantation occupied by Peter Archer, a quaker. It is unknown as to the exact date Peter Archer arrived in northern america. Peter Archer subsequently sells property to John Sansbury and moves to Harford County. He builds another house, also called Archer's Hays House, in Bel Air, MD -- It is on the historic register. |
| 1664 | Land in northern Calvert County is patented by Peter Archer as Archers' Hays |
| 1667 | St. Mary's City charted |
| ~1682 | Battletown is seat of Calvert County |
| 27 Feb 1671 | Earliest track of land recorded in Anne Arundel, "Bedworth's Addition" is patented by Richard Bedworth on the north side of Lyon's Creek. It consists of 52 acres |
| 1672 to 1733(?) | Archer's Hays owned by John Sansbury |
| 1673 | A private ferry is in operation between Anne Arundel and Calvert counties on the Patuxent with its terminal point at Lyons Creek. Another ferry operation is located at Queen Anne's, further north on the Patuxent. |
| 17 Jun 1679 | A small tract of land, 20 acres, is surveyed for Humphrey Robertson on Lyons Creek in Anne Arundel |
| 1680-1720 | Sometime during this period a barge with cannon balls sinks in vicinity of Lyons Creek. |
| 1683 | The town of Benedict is established |
| 1683 | Bowlington established as port of entry - lies just above Nottingham but presently has nothing existing there - may be "Ferry Landing" |
| 1683 | Coxtown, later to be called the Port of Lower Marlboro, was legally established and was to serve as the primary outlet for Lyon's Creek Hundred |
| 1692 | Law passed that made it illegal to dump ballast into the river - thought to be causing siltation of the Patuxent. Also noted was that farming was causing heavy siltation of the streams and some portions of the river. |
| May 1692 | All Saints Church and Parish established - included all the land north of hunting creek in Calvert County. One of the oldest Episcopal churches in Maryland. |
| 1695 | Annapolis is named capital of Maryland. |
| Late 1600s | Calverton, or Mount Calvert is established by the nephew of Lord Baltimore, Philip Calvert, on a former Indian site. It is situated at the meeting of the Western Branch and Patuxent Rivers. |