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In 1727, an Act of the
Maryland Assembly directed that a new courthouse be erected on
the “East side of the Head of Port Tobacco Creek, at a place
called ‘Chandler Town’ allowing 3 acres for a courthouse and a
jail.” An additional 60 acres were to be divided into 100 lots
to form the village. The courthouse was completed by 1729 and is
assumed to have been of brick because its cost was recorded as
12,000 pounds of tobacco. No drawings have been found.
The Assembly officially named the village “Charles Town,” but
that name failed to stick. The area had always been popularly
known as Port Tobacco, and that is the name that endured. It
could have been a corruption of the Indian name Potopaco, which
through the years had been pronounced Portafacco, Potobac,
Potobag, and Porttobattoo.
In 1808, a severe windstorm leveled both the courthouse and
the Episcopal Church next to it. The church was quickly rebuilt,
and a second courthouse was built on the site of the old one in
1819. That courthouse lasted until August 3, 1892, when the main
section burned to the ground. Arson was suspected because the
court records had been moved outside before the fire started.
At the time of the fire, Port Tobacco boasted about twenty
shops, two newspapers (The Maryland Independent and The Port
Tobacco Times), three hotels (St. Charles, Centennial, and The
Smoot House), and sixty to seventy homes fanning out from the
courthouse.
Until the end of the Revolutionary War, Port Tobacco had been
the second largest river port in Maryland—St. Mary’s City was
the largest. Ships from Europe brought prized goods to the Port
of Entry Warehouse and sailed back laden with hogsheads of
tobacco. But the harbor gradually silted up as the result of
excessive tree cutting and planting of crops, particularly
tobacco. The river trade became restricted to small boats. The
final blow to Port Tobacco came with the burning of the
courthouse in 1892. That event precipitated renewed debate about
whether it was the best location for the County Seat. In 1895,
the results of a special election dictated that the county seat
be moved to La Plata, about 2½ miles away. A new courthouse was
built there before the year was out.
In 1904, Christ Church of Port Tobacco Parish, which had
stood alongside the old courthouse since both had been rebuilt
at the beginning of the 19th century, was dissassembled stone by
stone and timber by timber. The material was numbered, carted to
La Plata, and reassembled next to the new courthouse. Such was
the definitive event that symbolized the end of Port Tobacco’s
long-held dominance as a center of commerce and governance.
By the end of the 20th century, though, Port Tobacco was once
again familiar with prosperity. Around the core village,
extensive residential development had occurred, reflecting the
general prosperity of the times. The attractive homes on large
lots proclaimed the renaissance of the Port Tobacco area as a
highly regarded place to live. Augmenting the new allure of this
historic area, the Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco,
Inc., continues its long-term efforts in reconstruction and
restoration of historic buildings within the old village.
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