Our Story

Glyph Stationers is a curated stationery shop in downtown Havre de Grace, Maryland — fountain pens, ink, fine paper, journals, and letterpress cards, chosen a few at a time. The short version skips the good part, though, so here's how we got here.

It started with a letterpress.

In 2012, Don Starr acquired a vintage letterpress and 48 cases of metal type — the kind of equipment that printed everything from broadsides to wedding invitations for over a century. The press needed a home, and downtown Havre de Grace had something to offer: a row of empty storefronts on Washington Street, waiting for something to happen.

Don and his husband Joe Smith rented one. The plan was straightforward — sell letterpress prints from their own press. That was the plan until May 2012, when they attended the National Stationery Show in New York.

Everything changed.

They discovered a world of independent paper makers, small-batch printers, boutique card designers, and specialty pen makers — all creating things of genuine beauty and craft. They came home with orders from independent printers across the country, a stack of catalogs from wedding invitation suppliers, and a completely different vision for what Glyph could be.

That trip launched the store you see today.

Through the Years

Glyph has worn a few different shapes and lived in a few different spaces, but it's always been the same shop at heart.

We first opened in July 2012, in a small storefront in downtown Havre de Grace — the letterpress, the type cases, and a fast-growing love of fine paper and pens. In 2016 we moved into a larger location as the shop grew. Then, at the end of 2018, we stepped away and closed for a while to tend to life outside the store.

That turned out to be a pause, not an ending. In November 2020 — not the easiest moment anyone ever picked to open a shop — we came back, settling into our current home on Washington Street. We've been here ever since, and it's exactly where we want to be.

The Biggest Little Store in Havre de Grace

Over the past decade-plus, Glyph has gone through a few evolutions — but the core idea has stayed constant: bring in the best, leave out the rest. Our small space on Washington Street is a feature, not a limitation. It forces us to be intentional. Every pen, journal, greeting card, and gift on our shelves earned its place.

We carry high-quality pens, fine papers, journals, letterpress greeting cards, and thoughtful gifts — sourced from independent makers and carefully selected brands from around the country. If it's here, we believe in it.

Don & Joe

Don (left), Joe (right)

Glyph is a family business in every sense. Don Starr and Joe Smith have been together for 38 years and married for 13. They run the shop together, though their day jobs keep things interesting.

Don is a design professor at George Mason University — which explains the eye for type and paper that runs through everything at Glyph. He's also a past president of the Chesapeake Chapter of the American Printing History Association, and his love of print is the heartbeat of this store.

Joe brings a different kind of infrastructure. As a senior human resources technology consultant, he's wired for operations and systems. He's also a former Havre de Grace City Councilman, founder of the Havre de Grace Alliance, and a former Treasurer and Board Member of the Havre de Grace Chamber of Commerce. When he's not consulting or shopkeeping, he's probably still doing something for this city.

They share their home — and the shop's unofficial mascot duties — with three cats: Raven, Bayleigh, and Boh (short for Nathaniel Bohregard, or as Baltimore knows him, Natty Boh).

Word Got Around

For a long stretch we were Glyph Design Studio — part shop, part studio, because Don was quietly doing both. As word got around, that side of things grew a life of its own and eventually earned a home of its own. The design work now lives at its own studio, Starr Smith Studio, separate from the shop — which is exactly how we like it. It keeps Glyph free to be what it does best: the biggest little stationery store in Havre de Grace.

Come See Us

Glyph Stationers
212 N. Washington Street
Havre de Grace, MD 21078
410-939-0504

Open Friday through Sunday. Can't make it to Havre de Grace? We ship nationwide — shop anytime at ShopGlyphDG.com.