In Charles, St. Mary's and Calvert counties, there are landmarks that help visitors learn about earlier - even prehistoric - times.  These three counties are located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and are easy to reach by water.  Many of the people who live in the Southern Region still farm tobacco, corn, wheat and soybeans, and harvest fish and shellfish from the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac and Patuxent rivers.  There also are many historic sites and environmental treasures such as woods, fields, ponds, swamps and beaches that are preserved for all to enjoy.  St. Mary's City was the state capital until 1695, and was Maryland's first permanent settlement.  To experience what life was like for Maryland's early citizens, visit Historic St. Mary's City, an 800-acre living history museum with interpreters in authentic 17th-century dress.  There you'll find replicas of the first state house; an "ordinary" or "inn", a tobacco plantation and the Maryland Dove, a replica of one of the two ships that brought Maryland's first colonists.