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History · Benedict

32% of Benedict’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 5 old photos and papers and maps from 1892 on.

0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Benedict’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Benedict’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18925 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1974. Watch Benedict change.Old housesHalf of Benedict’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · On the map

Benedict on the map, 1892 to 1974

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Benedict. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Benedict on the 1892 USGS mapBenedict on the 1901 USGS mapBenedict on the 1938 USGS mapBenedict on the 1953 USGS mapBenedict on the 1974 USGS map1892Prince Frederick sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Benedict.

The story

How Benedict came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Benedict.

Read it all →

Originally a fishing village along the Patuxent River in the southern Province of Maryland in the late 17th century, it was named Benedict-Leonardtown for Benedict Leonard Calvert, (1700–1732), 15th Proprietary Governor of Maryland, serving under his older brother, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron and Lord Baltimore, (1699–1751).

ChaptersWar of 1812Civil War

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Benedict, 1796 to 1941

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1796Post officeThe Benedict post office opens
  3. 19th century
  4. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1941In the archiveCharles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure crafts docked in the Patuxent River a…
By decade

Benedict, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s5 items
Charles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure crafts docked in the Patuxent River at Benedict1941Charles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure c…Charles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure crafts docked in the Patuxent River at Benedict1941Charles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure c…Charles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure crafts docked in the Patuxent River at Benedict1941Charles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure c…Charles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure crafts docked in the Patuxent River at Benedict1941Charles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure c…Charles County, Maryland. The signs on the pier on the Patuxent River at Benedict encourage visitors1941Charles County, Maryland. The signs on the pier on th…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Benedict Maryland 012015Benedict Maryland 01
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Charles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure crafts docked in the Patuxent River at Benedict
Retake this viewCharles County, Maryland. Oyster boats and pleasure crafts docked in the Patuxent River at Benedict, 1941

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Benedict’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Benedict’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCharles County, Maryland. Oyster boats …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Benedict’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.