Historic Sotterley

Historic Sotterley is a historic plantation site and non-profit museum located at 44300 Sotterley Lane in Hollywood, St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1703 by James Bowles, a plantation owner, merchant, and slave trader, the property evolved over nearly three centuries through a succession of owners, including George Plater, the sixth Governor of Maryland, and Herbert L. Satterlee, a New York business lawyer and son-in-law of J.P. Morgan. The site is centered on a rare early 18th-century post-in-ground structure and a long, 1½-story, nine-bay frame plantation house overlooking the Patuxent River. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000. Since opening to the public in 1961, Sotterley has operated as an educational and cultural resource, offering guided tours of the mansion, an original slave cabin, a customs warehouse, smokehouse, corn crib, and a formal Colonial Revival garden across 94 acres with over 20 authentic structures. The site is also a UNESCO Site of Memory for the Routes of Enslaved Peoples and a Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markets Project site. Today, Historic Sotterley, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, manages the property, providing educational programming, exhibits, and events while preserving its historic structures and natural environment. Its mission is to use the powerful stories of the land, lives, and labor to bring American history to life, with a vision to foster a better understanding of America's complex history and legacy of slavery.

Sotterley Plantation was established in 1703 when James Bowles, a plantation owner, merchant, and slave trader, sank a cypress post into the ground to begin construction of a two-room home on the shore of the Patuxent River in Southern Maryland. Bowles was the first owner of Sotterley; Mabel Ingalls, a bacteriologist, was the last. Over nearly 300 years, the property passed through a fascinating line of individuals, including one of the wealthiest women in the Maryland colony, a governor, a physician who ran a boarding school at Sotterley, and a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy and his wife, the daughter of one of the nation's most powerful financiers. Supporting the ambition of these American aristocrats from Sotterley's beginning until the mid-19th century was a community of enslaved persons whose talents and labor developed Sotterley into one of the largest plantations in the Tidewater region. Sotterley's location on the Patuxent gave its 18th and 19th century owners access to the valuable shipping lanes of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Tobacco was a key export, as were corn and lumber. Many ships brought luxury goods from Europe to Sotterley's wharf. Others delivered captive Africans. Still other ships brought letters from Americans whose names fill our history books. Sotterley was its own, self-contained world for most of its history. During the colonial era, plantation owners resisted the formation of towns, preferring to govern their property and those who lived on it without interference from local authorities. Sotterley's owners were active politically. The property was once the home of George Plater (1735–1792), the sixth Governor of Maryland, and Herbert L. Satterlee (1863–1947), a New York business lawyer and son-in-law of J.P. Morgan. The main house is a long 1½-story, nine-bay frame building covered with wide, beaded clapboard siding and a wood shingle roof, overlooking the Patuxent River. Also on the property are a sawn-log slave quarters of c. 1830, an 18th-century brick warehouse, and an early-19th-century brick meat house. Farm buildings include an early-19th-century corn crib and an array of barns and work buildings from the early 20th century. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Sotterley was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2000, its national significance due to the extremely rare surviving elements of the main house's oldest phase, a c. 1717 post-in-ground structure, and the other elements of its later historical architecture and landscape. Sotterley opened to the public in 1961 and is the only Tidewater plantation in Maryland open to the public that offers visitor activities and educational programs. Visitors can tour the early 18th-century mansion, an original slave cabin, a customs warehouse, smokehouse, necessary and corn crib, as well as a formal Colonial Revival garden. The property comprises 95 acres of rolling fields, gardens, and riverfront. In 2012, it was designated a Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Marker's Project Site. In 2017, it received the Maryland Sustainable Growth Award for Preservation & Conservation. In 2018, it received the Maryland Preservation Award for Slave Cabin Exhibit dedicated to Agnes Kane Callum. In 2019, it was designated a UNESCO Site of Memory for the Route of the Enslaved Peoples Project. In 2020, it received the Maryland Preservation Award for Excellence in Public Programming for Common Ground. In 2023, Southern Maryland was recognized as a National Heritage Area. Today, Historic Sotterley, Inc. is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) public charity organization. It has 94 acres with over 20 authentic structures. In the tradition of its ancestors, it farms sustainably and donates most of what it grows to local food pantries. Its mission is to preserve its historic structures and natural environment and use the powerful stories of its land, lives, and labor to bring American history to life while serving as an educational and cultural resource. Its vision is to foster a better understanding of our world today by providing a living link to America's complex history and legacy of slavery.

• 2023

  Southern Maryland recognized as a National Heritage Area.

• 2020

  Received Maryland Preservation Award for Excellence in Public Programming for Common Ground.

• 2019

  Designated a UNESCO Site of Memory for the Route of the Enslaved Peoples Project.

• 2018

  Received Maryland Preservation Award for Slave Cabin Exhibit dedicated to Agnes Kane Callum.

• 2017

  Received Maryland Sustainable Growth Award for Preservation & Conservation.

• 2012

  Designated a Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Marker's Project Site.

• 2000

  Declared a National Historic Landmark.

• 1972

  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• 1961

  Sotterley opens to the public as a historic site.

• 1703

  James Bowles begins construction of a two-room home on the Patuxent River, founding Sotterley Plantation.

A non-profit historic site and museum dedicated to interpreting all aspects of shared history, including the legacy of slavery, as an educational and cultural resource.

• Guided tours of the early 18th-century mansion

• Original slave cabin exhibit

• Customs warehouse, smokehouse, necessary, and corn crib

• Formal Colonial Revival garden

• Educational programs and events

• Museum store

1. 1Historic Sotterley Home - Sotterleysotterley.org
2. 2Our History - Sotterleysotterley.org
3. 3History Day - Sotterleysotterley.org
4. 4About - Sotterleysotterley.org
5. 5Sotterley (Hollywood, Maryland) - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
6. 6Sotterley - Wikidatawikidata.org