During the first challenge along the Star-Spangled Banner GeoTrail, over 400 first edition SSB geocoins were awarded. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the Star-Spangled Banner GeoTour. We are currently out of geocoins but stay tuned for other opportunities along the Star-Spangled Banner GeoTour!
Come on a journey to remember and commemorate the dramatic chain of events, people and places that led to the birth of our National anthem.
The story of the Star-Spangled Banner was shaped by the events of the Chesapeake Campaign during the War of 1812. From February 1813 until February 1815, the Chesapeake Bay was the center of a fierce struggle between the British and Americans. Places and landscapes still exist today that provide a touchstone to the past. The trail traces events and related sites that figured prominently in the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812 that have national significance, physical integrity, and the potential for contemporary recreation and interpretation.
Set on the banks of the Patuxent River, Sotterley Plantation (1703) is older than Mount Vernon, Monticello and even the nation itself. The only remaining Tidewater Plantation in Maryland that is open to the public with a full range of visitor activities and educational programs, Sotterley's significant features include an early 18th-century Mansion, a rare original slave cabin and a full array of outbuildings set amidst 95 acres of rolling fields, gardens, and riverfront.
During the summer of 1814, war engulfed towns and farms up and down the Patuxent River and Sotterley was no exception. In June of 1814, the plantation served as a mustering site for U.S. Army units coming to assist the Chesapeake Flotilla, under the command of Commodore Joshua Barney. For weeks, the Flotilla had avoided destruction at the hands of the Royal Navy, but, in retaliation, the British were looting and burning communities across Southern Maryland. On June 10, U.S. reinforcements, headed to Barney’s aid, crossed the Patuxent, traveling from St. Mary’s County to Calvert County. Only a few days later, on July 14, British forces would raid the area. It was reported that troops burned a tobacco warehouse near Colonial Plater's (then the owner of Sotterley) property. This was evidently the first of multiple attacks suffered by the surrounding community over the next few weeks.
Visitors to Sotterley today can find out about the life on a Tidewater Plantation, from the perspective of different historical periods and diverse inhabitants. A Nature Trail winds through the grounds, through the Plantation's historic core down the Rolling Road, once used to convey hogsheads of tobacco to the Colonial Port at Sotterley Creek.
This traditional cache is hidden at the "Corn Crib". If you wish to tour the facility, there is a fee. Please refer to the Sotterley website www.sotterley.org for complete details.
Self–Guided Grounds Tours - Available year round except holidays noted below.**
Monday through Saturday - Site open 10 am to 4 pm
Sunday - Site open Noon to 4 pm
** Site is closed on the following Holidays - New Year's Eve, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Easter (Sunday, April 4th, 2010), Memorial Day, Labor Day, November 25 & 26 2010, December 24th & 25th.
Pets are NOT permitted
Thanks to the Coupleocachers for helping with this hide and the Maryland Geocaching Society for assisting with this project!