Historic London Town & Gardens

The Early Maryland field trip explores life and daily activities in the colonial port of London Town. With activities taking place in and around the c. 1760 William Brown House tavern and our historically accurate reconstructions of the Tenement and Carpenter’s Shop, this program transports students to an earlier age.

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Age Groups

This program is best for third, fourth, and fifth graders, but is adaptable for students in older grades. The content is not well-suited for students under third grade; younger students are encouraged to participate in our garden programs or travelling trunks.

 

Topics

The program explores four themes over six stations, which align with Maryland State Social Studies Standards. They are:

• People: Students learn about the lives of those living in London Town, both enslaved and free, by exploring how they would have interacted in a social center of colonial life: the tavern of the William Brown House. In these stations, students will learn about, and try on, colonial clothing; interact with the objects of enslaved and free residents; and use inductive reasoning to learn about tavern culture.

• Work: Students explore the work that men, women, and children would have done to support themselves & their families in the Tenement and the Carpenter's Shop. In these stations, students try out a variety of woodworking tasks as they apprentice themselves to a carpenter; and some of the domestic chores necessary to have enough food to eat.

• Trade: Trade was the lifeblood of the seaport of Colonial London Town. Students enjoy learning about the importance of trade to the Maryland colony by way of games that were traded amongst the inhabitants.

• Primary Sources: Students become researchers as they examine genuine and reproduction artifacts to find out historical fact vs. fiction.

 

Tour Length

A full-day program (3.5 hours) includes all of the themes listed above and allows time for lunch. A half-day program (2 hours) includes the People & Work themes.

 

Program Objectives

• Learn how archival (documents) and physical evidence (artifacts) can tell us about the past.

• Use deductive reasoning, based on archival and physical evidence, to conclude how colonial people lived their daily lives at London Town.

• Draw comparisons between daily life in the 18th century to life today and describe how life was different for children in colonial Maryland.

• Recognize that slavery was unfortunately a large and integral part of the economies of London Town, colonial Maryland, the New World, and intercontinental trade.

• Learn how vital the import and export trade systems were to the colonies and England.

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Questions?

Visit our School Group Tours page or contact the Public Programs Department by email or at (410) 222-1919x200.