You are standing in front of a graphic panel titled “European Settlers.” To your left is a graphic panel titled “House History: Stairway.” To your right is a reader rail titled “Window on the Past: Unsustainable Practices.”

The panel in front of you includes text and three images.

The main text reads:

European Settlers

The first European settlers arrived in this area in the 1650s. Many were fleeing religious, political, and economic turmoil at home. They sought land along navigable waterways with good soil for growing tobacco—the area’s main commercial crop.

John Shaw, a Quaker, established a plantation called Shaw’s Folly on the land behind this house. Thomas Sparrow, a Puritan fleeing Anglican repression in Virginia, established a plantation called Sparrow’s Rest nearby.

The secondary text reads:

Indentured Servants
One-half to two-thirds of the immigrants who arrived in the American colonies in the 1600s were indentured servants. They typically worked for four to seven years in exchange for passage to America, food, lodging, and the promise of land. John Sellman—the father of William Sellman, who built this house—was an indentured servant from England.

The accompanying images include:

A map of Maryland by John Ogilby, 1671, including Latin text and an elaborate crest.

A handwritten document with flourishing lettering. The caption reads: This 1659 document details the original boundaries of Sparrow’s Rest, which began at the mouth of Herring Creek (known as Muddy Creek today). The Sparrows were among the first European settlers to arrive in Maryland.

A drawing of a person working in a field in front of a mansion. The caption reads: Illustration of tobacco growing at nearby Squirrel Neck plantation.