The colonists that departed for Maryland from the shores of Viriginia first landed on what was once a large island near the Maryland shore of the Potomac River. The arrivals from the Arc and Dove disembarked, planted a large wooden cross, and named the island for Saint Clement.

Today the island is tiny, thought to be only one-tenth the size it was when the Arc and Dove arrived in 1634. A large white cross on the south side of the island commemorates the landing.



Photo: St. Clement's Island as seen from the Maryland shore of the Potomac.