Introduction “Stories and Lives that Have Shaped Calvert County, Maryland” will be a series of virtual driving tours. “Heritage Tour, Part I: The Mackall Road Route” was chosen first because it was settled early during the Colonial period and had been home for thousands of years to Native American groups who hunted, fished, and later farmed here. The landscape along the tour can tell you much about the long history of Calvert County from early history, through the War of 1812, the tobacco economy and on up to the present. The video segments included in this interactive web tour begin with a twenty-minute introduction. If you are physically driving the Tour, the introduction is just long enough for you to drive south from Prince Frederick or north from Solomons to the turn onto Parran Road. The first stop is at the historical roadside markers, just past the turn. There are fourteen more sections to the tour, anchored to different parts of the landscape along the route. Throughout the video segments, you will hear narrators weave together the history of the area and hear residents of the county speak of their experiences. The Calvert County voices are taken from the dozens of oral history interviews that the Historic District Commission has conducted over the last 30 years. You will also hear some fine music, most of which was composed and performed by the producer, Jeff Gruber of Blue House Productions who put this work together. Whether you are watching and listening at home or have downloaded podcasts to accompany you on the drive, enjoy the tour! Instructions Choosing “Watch Video” on any given stop will open a popup showing the relevant video segment. “Download Audio” will download the audio for that portion of the tour. The audio is identical to the video. The entire audio collection is also available for download in MP3 format. For direct access to the video segments, please visit the County's YouTube site. Please note that the map is fully interactive, allowing you to pan and zoom, as well as select a stop to view its information. This site performs best using either Chrome or Firefox browsers. Users may encounter video playback unpredictability using Internet Explorer. This site also performs best with Java installed. Please check that the Java plug-in is installed on your browser or install if prompted. Credits Project: Department of Community Planning & Building Web: Department of Technology Services Video: Jeff Gruber, Blue House Productions The videos were produced by the Calvert County Historic District Commission. They were financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, made available through the Maryland Historical Trust, an entity within the Maryland Department of Planning. The contents and opinions expressed in the videos do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of these agencies. © Calvert County Government, Calvert County Historic District Commission 2012.