St. Mary's County, Maryland
St. Mary's County · Leonardtown · Maryland’s first county sits here · Lexington Park is not the hall
Leonardtown is the hall. Historic St. Mary's City was the first capital — it is not the capital now.
St. Mary's was established in 1637 — Maryland’s first county — and named for Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Ark and the Dove landed at St. Clement's Island in 1634. Leonardtown is the seat. Historic St. Mary's City was the first capital of Maryland. It is not the capital now. It is not the county hall. Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and sits in Anne Arundel. Lexington Park is the large census place. Lexington Park is not the county government. This is not St. Marys, Pennsylvania. Not St. Marys, Ohio. Not St. Marys, Georgia. Not St. Marys, Florida. This is not “the City.” La Plata is Charles. Prince Frederick is Calvert. The Potomac is south and west. Virginia is across that river.
Places include Leonardtown, Lexington Park, California, Charlotte Hall, Great Mills, Hollywood, Mechanicsville, Valley Lee, Piney Point, and Point Lookout. 2020 census: 113,777. Leonardtown is the only incorporated municipality. Patuxent River Naval Air Station sits here. It is federal. It is not this county’s Sheriff. St. Mary's College of Maryland sits at Historic St. Mary's City. It is a campus, not the hall.
This page is Side One for the place. The Sheriff’s job — peninsula patrol and the Detention and Rehabilitation Center — is taught at Office of the Sheriff — St. Mary's County.
Five commissioners. Traditional commission. No County Police.
St. Mary's remains a commissioner county. Five Commissioners of St. Mary's County sit at the Chesapeake Building, 41770 Baldridge Street, Leonardtown. Maryland Manual form of government: County Commissioners — not a charter Executive, not Queen Anne's code home rule stamp. There is no St. Mary's County Police Department. The Sheriff is primary law enforcement and the jailer. Leonardtown lists a Town Deputy at Town Hall. That is not a County Police Department. Maryland State Police is the state.
The Sheriff is four years, Article IV § 44, 2026 on the State Board of Elections local-office list. The Governor is also 2026 — a different desk. The Mayor of Leonardtown is a town clock.
Lexington Park is the large census place. It is not the county government.
The Patuxent is northeast. Breton Bay is this water at Leonardtown. The Potomac is south and west. Maryland 5 / Three Notch Road is this spine. Point Lookout State Park is this park. This is not Ocean City. This is not a Pennsylvania borough. Staff who paste Historic St. Mary's City as “the capital” onto Court House Drive, or a Navy flight line onto Leonard Hall Drive as this county’s hall, are on the wrong county.
Hollywood Road holds the elections office
The Board of Elections is at 23250 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown (mail: P.O. Box 197) — not 23150 Leonard Hall Drive, not 41880 Baldridge Street, not Lexington Park, not Historic St. Mary's City. A family in Mechanicsville registers here, not in Charles. Leonardtown’s town site does not speak for Charlotte Hall. The Sheriff’s listing speaks for patrol, process, court, and 41880 Baldridge Street.
Leonard Hall Drive patrols. Baldridge Street is this Sheriff's jail.
Crime in the unincorporated county — including most of Lexington Park, California, and Charlotte Hall — is this Sheriff. Jail as a local house is this Sheriff’s Detention and Rehabilitation Center at 41880 Baldridge Street. Civil process and Circuit Court security at 41605 Court House Drive are the Sheriff. Rights do not change at the Charles line. Remedy for a Town Deputy matter in Leonardtown is the Town door. Remedy for a Sheriff’s paper or booking is the Sheriff. Relief when the Potomac comes up at Piney Point is this count first.
Courts, St. Mary's College is a campus, Pax River is the Navy
A student uses town pages, the county jobs board, or the Sheriff’s official listing. St. Mary's College of Maryland is a campus. It is not the Detention Center. College of Southern Maryland has a Leonardtown campus. Patuxent River Naval Air Station is federal. Outreach that only knows a jet photograph is not doing Valley Lee.
Southern Maryland peninsula snapshot (verify official sources)
- Seat: Leonardtown · Capital of Maryland: Annapolis (Anne Arundel) · first capital (historic): St. Mary's City
- Government: five Commissioners · traditional commission · no County Police
- Sheriff: four years · 2026 · primary patrol and jailer at 41880 Baldridge Street
- Not Historic St. Mary's City as the hall · Not Lexington Park as the hall · Not Pax River as this badge · Not Pennsylvania
What Leonardtown is not
- Not Historic St. Mary's City as the present capital. Not Annapolis.
- Not Lexington Park as the hall. Not “the City.”
- Not St. Marys, Pennsylvania / Ohio / Georgia / Florida.
- Not Charles. Not La Plata. Not Calvert. Not Prince Frederick.
- Not a campaign flyer.