Imagine Captain John Smith sailing into and along the Chesapeake Bay in June of 1608. He was undoubtedly amazed at the vastness of this waterway, which even today is the largest estuary in the U.S. Smith returned again in July to explore the area further, with its fertile, green hills and valleys bordering the bay, in consideration of the area’s suitability for settlement.

In the Maryland state archives, a firsthand account by Fr. James White titled, “A Briefe (sic) Relation of the Voyage Unto Maryland,” describes the author’s reaction upon seeing Chesapeake Bay: 

“...This bay is the most delightful water I ever saw, between two sweet lande… full of fish…there are noe marshes or swampes about it, but solid firme ground, with great variety of woode, not choked up with undershrubs, but commonly so farre distant from each other as a coach and (four) horses may travale…”

Today, the Chesapeake Bay produces more seafood than any comparable body of water, about 500,000 pounds per year, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program. Among the many varieties are Maryland’s famous blue crabs.

Land in Maryland was given to the Calvert family by the British Crown in 1632. In honor of the king’s wife, Henrietta Maria, Cecelius Calvert named the area Mary-Land.    

The Calverts granted Maryland land to people through the headright system, which lasted from 1633 to 1683. Those who paid their own way to Maryland received one headright of 50 acres; those who brought others with them received a second. 

These early grants were only given to free men. Under the Homestead Act of 1862 however – signed by President Lincoln – any man or woman could get land, including former slaves and noncitizens. They had to build a house on the land – 12 x 14 or larger – farm the land, make improvements and stay for five years. 

Building a house was expensive and beyond the means of many. The National Archives contains records of enterprising newcomers taking advantage of the Homestead Act’s vagueness (it did not specify the unit of measurement required) by building houses measuring just 12 inches by 14 inches.

As in other colonies, Maryland land that was granted to the Calverts by Charles I was also land that Native Americans, primarily Algonquin tribes, claimed as theirs. Some Iroquois tribes and a few Sioux bands populated various parts of the state. Maryland maintains an extensive registry of tribes and subtribes that interacted with the European settlers, both positively through trading and negatively through wars and skirmishes.

Demographical Data

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that, as of 2021, Maryland had a population of 6,165,129. Approximately 22.1% are under 18, with 6% of those under age 5. People aged 65 and over make up 15.9% of the state’s population. 

Exactly half of the residents of Maryland are white alone, without Hispanic or Latino heritage; 31.1% are Black or African American; 10.6% are Hispanic or Latino; 6.7% are Asian alone, and 2.9% are two or more races. Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders make up 0.1%; American Indians and Alaska natives comprise 0.6% of the population; and those who are two or more races represent 2.9%or Maryland’s residents.

Residents are well educated, with 90.2% of those aged 25 and older having at least a high school diploma, and 40.2% holding college degrees. 

Maryland’s median household income in 2021 was $84,805, the highest in the U.S. Of course, since a median income is the midpoint in a list of incomes, that means half of Maryland households earned more than that, and half earned less. In fact, the five highest earning counties in the U.S. are all in Maryland and Northern Virginia. Many highly educated people move into Maryland to work in Washington, DC and other government and technology jobs. However, Maryland also has counties where earnings are below the national average, where people work at farming, fishing, manual labor, and the service industry.