Historic downtown Chestertown, a lovingly preserved Colonial river town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, invites visitors to step back in time Saturday, December 8 for a day of holiday festivities centered on a special house tour.
From 1 to 4 p.m., the 28th annual Holiday House Tour will showcase 10 of the town’s most significant and beautiful historic buildings dressed in their finest Colonial-style decorations. Docents will guide guests through each location and answer questions about the buildings and their décor. Children dressed in historic garb will play Colonial games, and horse-drawn wagons with historic interpreters aboard will offer rides through the historic district.
The decorated buildings on the tour include the Hynson-Ringgold House, a circa 1743 brick mansion where George Washington once slept and dined and where the President and First Lady of Washington College now live. Down the street is the Custom House, built in the 1740s when Chestertown was a bustling port of entry for Maryland’s Eastern Shore. New to the tour is the stately Wide Hall, a finely proportioned riverfront mansion built around 1770 by wealthy merchant and shipbuilder Thomas Smythe.
The tour begins at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 101 Cross Street, the site where a 1780 vote first renamed the former Church of England as the Protestant Episcopal Church in America.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. All proceeds will benefit Chestertown’s public schools. Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.holidayhousetour.org or by mail at Colonial Chestertown Holiday House Tour, P.O. Box 771, Chestertown, MD 21620. (Please make checks payable to KCMS PTSA/ Holiday Tour and mail by November 30, 2012.)
Visitors are encouraged to arrive early and begin their day at Chestertown’s award-winning farmer’s market, open 9 to noon, where they can purchase handmade wreaths and garlands and pick up delicious local baked goods and fresh produce. The downtown area offers clothing- and gift shops, cafes and restaurants to enjoy before the tour starts, as well as fine-dining options for a relaxing meal afterward. To cap off a day full of holiday spirit, at 6:30 p.m. the Garfield Center for the Arts at the Prince Theatre (a beautifully restored movie palace on High Street a block from the river) is staging a creative interpretation of the classic “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” with music by Mickey Dulin and narration by Tim Maloney. For information and tickets: https://www.garfieldcenter.org/).
Parking is free and all sites on the tour are within easy walking distance of the historic district’s shopping and dining. For more information about Chestertown, including lodging and dining options, visit https://www.chestertown.com/.
And for information about the Holiday House Tour, contact Deeann Jones at 410-810-3990 or visit https://www.holidayhousetour.org.
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