St Michaels, Maryland

Episode 137 / 19 September 2019 / 164 min / full

A Murder Not-So-Mystery Weekend in St. Michaels, Maryland

"We're going to St. Michaels, Maryland, in the eastern peninsula of Maryland; this is in Talbot County." about 0:07:00

The case: Murder of Stephen Ricco (February 14-15, 1998). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2019

Population

998

Median household income

$53,000

Median home value

$397,300

Two-bedroom rent

$1,161

Cost of living

137

Religious

43.3%

Property crime

▲ about a quarter high

Violent crime

▲ about 10% high

History, in brief

• The town was laid out in the 1770s by a speculator named James Braddock, in a European style around a central square rather than on a grid. about 0:09:04
• It was incorporated in 1804. about 0:09:32
• A church that predated the town gave St Michaels its name; Braddock donated land for a Methodist church in the centre of St Mary Square. about 0:09:47
• The church's brick structure was built after the War of 1812, knocked down, and rebuilt with its cornerstone laid on July 4th, 1839. about 0:10:02
• Shipbuilding was the industry from the 1700s until the War of 1812, including the Baltimore Clipper. about 0:10:18
• In 1813 a British fleet under Admiral George Cockburn moved up the Chesapeake Bay towards St Michaels because of its militia battery. about 0:12:23
• On August 10th, 1813, the British landed south of town, were turned back, and bombarded the town without destroying the shipyards. about 0:12:47
• The town became known as the town that fooled the British, after the story that residents hung lanterns in trees beyond the town so the British fired into the woods. about 0:14:02
• A big celebration of the battle was held in 1963. about 0:14:09
• After the War of 1812 shipbuilding declined and the oyster industry took over, with most families involved in fishing. about 0:14:13
• Frederick Jewitt devised the five-level crab meat grading system still used today: regular, claw, special, back fin and lump. about 0:14:53
• Frederick Douglass lived in and around St Michaels at various times during his childhood. about 0:15:16
• Baseball player Harold Baines grew up in St Michaels and still lives there. about 0:15:27
• The film Clara's Heart was shot there in 1988, and Wedding Crashers was filmed nearby. about 0:17:47
• In 2007 Coastal Living magazine named the town number eight of the top ten romantic escapes in the USA. about 0:18:25
• In 2008 Forbes called it the East Coast weekend getaway you've been missing. about 0:18:36
• The permanent population has barely changed since 1860, when it was 1,016; it is now 998. about 0:19:01

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