In the 17^th century, fences played a large role in changing frontier plantations to a more urban environment. Timothy B. Riordan, director of archaeology at Historic St. Mary’s City (HSMC), will discuss the role in his talk “’A good substancial fence of loggs . . .:’ Creating landscape out of wilderness at the Calvert House” at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 5, at the HSMC Visitor Center. The talk is part of the Smithsonian Institution’s “Between Fences” exhibition – and the related local exhibition “Facing Fences” − now at St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s Boyden Gallery in Montgomery Hall through March 4.

“During its 70-year existence, the Calvert House was, at times, the Governor’s House, the largest Ordinary in town, and a Statehouse for the Province,” said Riordan. “While serving each of these functions, it was the center of a landscape bounded and divided by fences. Each of these functions led to changes in the layout of the boundaries.”

St. Mary's College of Maryland, designated the Maryland state honors college in 1992, is ranked one of the best public liberal arts schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. More than 2,000 students attend the college, nestled on the St. Mary's River in Southern Maryland.