In November of 1633, two ships —the Ark and the Dove— set sail from the Isle of Wight in England, embarking on a grueling 3000 mile journey across the Atlantic. Aboard, some 140 passengers awaited a new life in an unknown world. Their destination: a stretch of land about ten miles from the mouth of the great Patawomeck River, on the ancestral homeland of the Piscataway and Yaocomico people. But they would christen it St. Mary’s City… the first capital of the new British colony of Maryland.

In Discovering the Dove, the centuries-old story of Maryland’s founding enters a brand new chapter as a team of shipbuilders endeavor to recreate the Dove of 1633… without a blueprint. Over the course of the half hour, viewers will join historians and craftspeople in unraveling the mystery of what the 17th century ship might have looked like. They’ll discover clues in passenger diaries, period artwork and sunken ships, and visit the shipyard at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to watch as this New Maryland Dove takes shape, plank by plank. Finally, they’ll accompany the crew of the new vessel for her maiden voyage across the Bay to Historic St. Mary’s City—a journey that highlights just how much we can discover about the past through recreating it.