Thomas Stone National Historic Site, in Port Tobacco, Maryland, preserves the plantation home of Thomas Stone, a Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence. Stone served on the committee that drafted the Articles of Confederation, the agreement under which the 13 original states of the United States established a federal government in 1781. He was also a member of the Second Continental Congress.
In addition to Stone’s home, Haberdeventure, the 322-acre (130-hectare) historic site includes several farm buildings of the 1700’s and 1800’s and the Stone family cemetery. Exhibits at the site show details of plantation life. Some rooms in Haberdeventure feature restored furnishings originally made in the 1770’s. Visitors can see forests and fields as well as birds and other wildlife on the site’s hiking trails.
Stone, a lawyer, purchased the land around Haberdeventure in 1770. Construction of the house began the next year. Historians believe that, including Stone’s slaves and his family members, about 40 people lived on his plantation. Stone’s descendants owned the property until 1936. The United States Congress designated the area a national historic site in 1978. The National Park Service opened the plantation to the public in 1992.
