Annapolis is the capital of the US state of Maryland in the United States and the county seat of Anne Arundel County. Here is the headquarters of the United States Naval Academy. Annapolis is now a prosperous port city. In its various harbor bays (marinas) are hundreds of sailing yachts that cruise the Chesapeake Bay during the almost year-round sailing season.
Annapolis has a thriving community theater scene, including two
theaters in the Historic District.
The Colonial Players on East
Street presents about six shows a year in its 180-seat theater. A
Christmas Carol has been an Annapolis seasonal tradition since it first
appeared at the Colonial Players Theater in 1981. Based on the play by
Charles Dickens, Colonial Players' 90-minute production is an original
musical with a play and lyrics by Richard Wade and music by Dick
Gessner. Colonial Players, Inc. is a non-profit organization founded in
1949. The first production, The Male Animal, was presented in 1949 at
the Annapolis Recreation Center on Compromise Street; in 1955, the
company moved to a former auto repair shop on East Street.
During
the warmer months, the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre presents three
shows on an outdoor stage visible from the City Dock. The nonprofit
Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre has offered "theater under the stars"
since 1966, when it presented "You Can't Take It With You" and
"Brigadoon" at the Carvel Hall Hotel. 1967 saw the former Shaw
Blacksmith Shop He began renting the property at 143 Compromise Street
and became the owner in 1990.
The Naval Academy Muscaladers is a
theater group at the U.S. Naval Academy that presents a "Mainstage Show"
each fall and a student-directed one-act play in the spring. Its shows,
staged in Mahan Hall, are chosen to support the Academy's English
curriculum.
The King William Players, a student theater group
from St. John's College, performs twice each semester in the school's
Francis Scott Key Auditorium. Admission is usually free and open to the
public.
The Banneker Douglas Museum, located in the historic Mount Moriah
Church at 87 Franklin St., documents the history of African Americans in
Maryland and has offered educational programs, rotating exhibits, and
research facilities since its opening on February 24, 1984. Admission is
free.
Preble Hall, named for Edward Preble, houses the U.S. Naval
Academy Museum, established in 1845. The Beverly R. Robinson Collection
contains 6,000 prints depicting European and American naval history from
1514 to World War II. It is also home to one of the world's finest
collections of model ships, donated by Henry Huttleston Rogers. Rogers'
donation was the impetus for the construction of Preble Hall. The museum
attracts approximately 100,000 visitors each year.
The
Hammond-Harwood House at 19 Maryland Avenue was built in 1774 for
Mathias Hammond, a wealthy Maryland farmer. Its design was William
Buckland's adaptation of Andrea Palladio's Villa Pisani to suit colonial
American regional tastes, since the Hammond-Harwood House Association
purchased the house from St. John's College in 1940, It has been used as
a museum, displaying furniture by John Shaw and a collection of
paintings by Charles Willson Peale. Its exterior and interior retain the
original late colonial mansion architecture.
The Annapolis City
Dock is located at the foot of Main Street, down the hill from Church
Circle and St. Ann's Church. The dock, once called Carroll's Creek, is a
narrow channel leading from Spa Creek, called Dock Cove, to the downtown
core. At the end of the dock is a small park and an asphalt traffic
circle surrounded by the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial, the Market
House, and historic buildings. The Market House is relatively modern,
but is located in a row of similar market houses built in 1730 when the
city market was moved from the State Capitol area to the end of the
dock. The dock itself is currently used primarily by recreational
vessels, not by commercial vessels or boats of Chesapeake Bay watermen
selling their catches. The dock and surrounding area are part of the
Colonial Annapolis National Historic Landmark (NHL) District.
The
Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley monument in the park at the end of the Annapolis
City Dock commemorates the arrival point of Kunta Kinte, an African
ancestor of Alex Haley: Haley's 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an
American Family. A group of sculptures on the memorial depict Alex Haley
sitting and reading a book to his three children. The final phase of the
memorial construction was completed in 2002.
The Paca House and
Garden is an 18th century Georgian mansion built by William Paca, a
signer of the Declaration of Independence. The grounds are terraced with
a restored colonial design.
Annapolis is a frequent terminus for
the Race Across America, an annual 3,000-mile transcontinental bicycle
race.
North of the state capitol is a monument to Thurgood
Marshall, the first black U.S. Supreme Court justice and once a Maryland
lawyer who won many important civil rights cases.
The World War
II Memorial, located in front of the Naval Academy Bridge, was erected
in 1998 to symbolize the sacrifice of the 275,000 citizens from Maryland
who entered the war. The memorial consists of 48 granite columns
representing the 48 states at the time of the war and surrounds an
amphitheater on which are inscribed the names of the 6,454 people who
gave their lives in the war. Directly behind the memorial, the flags of
Maryland and the United States are flown, and a seven-sided star-shaped
column serves as the base to represent Maryland as the seventh state in
the Union.
The settlement named "Providence" in Maryland was established in 1649
on the north shore of the Severn River in the mid-western Chesapeake Bay
by Puritan exiles from Virginia/Dominion, led by William Stone
(1603-1660), the third governor of Maryland. Later, settlers moved to
more sheltered harbors on the south bank of the Severn River. The
settlement on the south bank was known as "Town at Proctor's" from 1683,
then "Town at the Severn," and in 1694 as "Anne Arundel's Towne" (the
late wife of Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore from 1605 to 1675,
Lady Anne Arundel (1616-1649)).
In 1654, after the Third English
Civil War, Parliamentary forces took control of the Maryland colony, and
Stone crossed the Potomac River south to exile in Virginia. By order of
Lord Baltimore, Stone returned the following spring with a troop of
mounted royalists loyal to the uncrowned King of England; on March 25,
1655, in what became known as the Battle of the Severn (the first
colonial naval battle in North America), Stone was defeated and taken
prisoner and Lieutenant General Josias Fendall (1628-1687) succeeded him
as the fifth Proprietary Governor. Fendall governed Maryland during the
latter half of the English Commonwealth period; in 1660, after Charles
II (1630-1685) was restored as King of England, Philip Calvert
(1626-1682) became the 5th/6th Governor of Maryland.
In 1694,
shortly after the overthrow of the Catholic government of the 2nd Royal
Governor Thomas Lawrence (1645-1714; served a few months in 1693), the
3rd Royal Governor, Francis Nicholson (1655-1727/28: 1694-1698),
established the royal colony of Anne Arundel and renamed the town
"Annapolis" after Princess Anne of Denmark and Norway (soon to become
Queen Anne of England, 1665-1714, reigned 1702-1714). Annapolis was
incorporated as a city in 1708, and Colonel John Seymour, governor of
Maryland from 1704 to 1709, sent a letter to Queen Anne on March 16,
1709, outlining the qualifications of municipal officials and the town's
regulations regarding fairs and market days.
Annapolis in the
17th century was little more than a village, but it rapidly developed as
a political and administrative center, port of entry, and major center
of the Atlantic slave trade during most of the 18th century and the
American Revolutionary War. The Maryland Gazette, which became an
important weekly newspaper, was founded there in 1745 by Jonas Green,
and a theater opened in 1769. Commerce also flourished during this
period, but declined rapidly after Baltimore, deep in the harbor, became
a port of entry in 1780. Oyster farming, shipbuilding, sailing ships,
and other waterborne trades became the city's major industries.
Annapolis had many recreational boats, which replaced the fishing
industry.
Dr. Alexander Hamilton (1712-1756), a Scottish-born
physician and author, lived and worked in Annapolis. Leo LeMay says that
his 1744 travel diary, Gentleman's Progress: The Itinerarium of Dr.
Alexander Hamilton), is "one of the best descriptions of men and
manners, rural and urban life, and the wider society and landscape in
colonial America." (p. 3).
After the signing of the Treaty of
Paris in 1783, Annapolis became the temporary capital of the United
States. Congress met in the State Capitol from November 26, 1783 to
August 19, 1784, and on December 23, 1783, General Washington resigned
his position as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in Annapolis.
For the 1783 Congress, the governor of Maryland commissioned local
cabinetmaker John Shaw to create an American flag. Shaw's flag differed
slightly from other designs of the time, with a blue field extending the
entire height of the hoist section. Shaw developed two versions of the
flag, one beginning with a red stripe and the other with a white stripe.
In 1786, delegates from all the states of the Union were invited to
meet in Annapolis to consider measures to improve the regulation of
commerce In September 1786, at a meeting later known as the Annapolis
Conference, the only delegates actually present were from the five
states of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware
Delegates were the only ones present. The Annapolis Convention later
became known as the Annapolis Convention. The delegates passed a
resolution calling for another convention to be held in Philadelphia the
following year to amend the Articles of Confederation, without
proceeding with the business that was the purpose of the conference. As
a result, the U.S. Constitution was drafted and approved at the
Philadelphia Convention and remains in force today.
On April 24, 1861, Naval Academy midshipmen were relocated from their
base in Annapolis and temporarily housed in Newport, Rhode Island until
October 1865.
In 1861, the first of three camps built to house
paroled soldiers was created on the campus of St. John's University. The
second location at Camp Parole housed over 20,000 and was set up on what
is now Forest Drive. The third and final location was completed in late
1863 and placed near the Elkridge Railroad. The third location was the
largest of the three, as it allowed for easier transportation of
soldiers and resources than before, and allowed the camp to grow to its
maximum number. This area, just west of the city, is still called
Parole. Soldiers who did not survive were buried in the Annapolis
National Cemetery.
In 1900, Annapolis had a population of 8,585. on December 21, 1906,
Henry Davis was lynched in the city. He was suspected of assaulting a
local woman. He was never tried for this crime.
During World War
II, many PT boats were built at the Annapolis shipyard, and during the
Korean and Vietnam wars, minesweepers, patrol boats, and other warships
were built in Annapolis. It was in Annapolis in July 1940 that the Grand
Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg was granted asylum during World War II.
In the summer of 1984, the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in
Annapolis hosted soccer matches as part of the 23rd Olympic Games.
On September 18-19, 2003, Hurricane Isabel caused the largest storm
surge in Annapolis history. Much of downtown Annapolis was flooded, and
many suburban businesses and homes were damaged. Previous records were
6.35 feet (1.94 meters) during the 1933 hurricane and 5.5 feet (1.7
meters) during Hurricane Hazel in 1954. Downtown Annapolis floods on
"sunny days" during storm surges. According to a Stanford University
study, this resulted in 3,000 fewer visitors to local businesses and
$172,000 in lost revenue in 2017.
From mid-2007 through December
2008, the city celebrated the 300th anniversary of the 1708 Royal
Charter that established democratic self-government. Many of the
cultural events of this celebration were organized by Annapolis Charter
300.
Annapolis was home to the Anne Arundel County Battle of the
Bands, held at Maryland Hall from 1999 to 2015. The event, in which
music groups from each of the county's high schools compete against each
other, raised more than $100,000 for the county's high school music
programs during its 17-year run.
On June 28, 2018, a shooting at
the Capital Gazette killed five reporters and wounded two others.
On September 1, 2021, an EF-2 tornado struck the western edge of the
city amid the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Homes, businesses, and
restaurants near Maryland Route 450 were severely damaged, with EF-2
damage observed at an estimated wind speed of 125 mph. The tornado
dissipated as soon as it passed U.S. Route 50 and U.S. Route 301.
Annapolis Conference 2007
As announced by U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, Annapolis was the site of the Middle East Summit on
the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, attended by Israeli Prime
Minister Olmert, Palestinian President Abbas ("Abu Mazen") and various
other regional leaders. The meeting took place on November 26, 2007 at
the United States Naval Academy.
State Capitol Building
The Maryland State Capitol is the oldest
continuously occupied building in the U.S. Construction began in 1772,
and the Maryland General Assembly first met in 1779. Atop the Capitol is
the largest wooden dome in the nation, built without the use of nails.
The Maryland State Capitol served as the seat of government from
November 26, 1783 to August 13, 1784, when the Treaty of Paris was
ratified on January 14, 1784, making Annapolis the first peacetime
capital of the United States.
It was in this Maryland State
Capitol that George Washington resigned from the Continental Congress on
December 23, 1783.
U.S. Naval Academy
The U.S. Naval Academy
was established in 1845 on the site of Fort Severn, now a reclaimed
portion of the Severn River. Students entering the Naval Academy are
enrolled for four years, followed by five years of active duty in the
Marine Corps or Navy. The Navy rank is Midshipman, with an average
enrollment of approximately 4,500 students.
St. John's College
St. John's College, a former state-supported, nondenominational private
college, was established by an act of the Maryland legislature in 1696
and opened in 1789 as the successor to the King Williams School, which
opened in 1701. The principal building, McDowell Hall, was originally
intended to be the governor's residence; although 4,000 pounds were
appropriated for its construction in 1742, it was not completed until
after the Revolutionary War.
Annapolis is located on the Atlantic Lowland, 3 km from the
confluence of the Severn River into the Chesapeake Bay of the Atlantic
Ocean. The city is located 40 km from Baltimore and Washington.
The city is located in a zone of subtropical oceanic climate, with hot
and rainy summers typical for these areas, cool and humid winters with
unstable snow cover, mild springs and autumns. In some years, the
temperature rose to 40°C in summer, and dropped to −25°C in winter.
Winter and summer temperatures are similar to the Russian south
(Krasnodar, Makhachkala), but there is much more precipitation.
As of the 2010 census, Annapolis had 38,394 residents, 16,136
households, and 8,776 families.
The racial composition of the
population:
whites - 53.5%
African Americans - 26.0%
Hispanics
(of all races) - 16.8%
Asians - 2.1%
The average annual per
capita income was $27,180 (2000 data). The average age of citizens is 36
years. The crime rate is 1.2 times the American average, but slightly
below the Maryland average.
Like most state capitals, the backbone of the city's economy is the
public sector. Governments at various levels, as well as health and
education institutions belonging to them, form almost 3/4 of Annapolis's
jobs. Annapolis is home to the US Naval Academy and St. John's College.
The city's largest private employers are Annapolis-headquartered
ARINC (Communications Systems), The Home Depot (sales of construction
tools and supplies), Constellation Energy (electricity), and Northrop
Grumman (missiles).
For air travel, Annapolis residents use Baltimore Airport, located 25
kilometers north of the business center. Targood Marshall (IATA: BWI,
ICAO: KBWI) with 22.4 million passengers (2011). Regular flights are
made from the airport to dozens of US cities, as well as to London,
Toronto and a number of Caribbean resorts.
Passenger rail service
ended in 1968.
Interstate I-97 and US 50 pass through Annapolis
and its environs. On the northern outskirts of the city there is a
bridge across the Chesapeake Bay.
Public transport is represented
by 9 bus routes operated by Annapolis Transit.