Providence, the first European settlement in Anne Arundel County, was established on the shores of the Severn River and Whitehall Bay in March of 1649. It was settled by a group of about 300 non-conformist Puritans. These pioneers came to the shores of Anne Arundel County at the invitation of the Catholic Lord Baltimore. They established their homes and tobacco plantations on the shores of the Severn River and the Chesapeake Bay, a community that would soon transform into the colonial Capital of Maryland: Annapolis. Providence was also the location of the Battle of the Severn in 1655; the only engagement of the English Civil War to occur on North American soil.
The Providence settlement is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, an honorific title that demonstrates how important Providence is to both Anne Arundel County and to the Nation’s history.
Seven of the eight known sites of Providence have been investigated since its discovery in the late 1980s including;
Burles Town Land (18AN826)
Homewood’s Lot (18AN871)
Thomas Thurston’s Tanyard (18AN825)
Emanual Drue’s Swan Cove (18AN934)
Ralph Williams (18AN944)
