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Get lost in Annapolis. It is easy for me, as I walk the streets and imagine life at the dawn of the American Revolution when Annapolis was a fashionable place to be--a cultural, social and political hub. Looking down the streets from State Circle and back up to the State House, I dismiss the modern clothing of the people, the cars, the utility lines - and stare at the very same bricks that ordinary as well as extraordinary Annapolitians also walked on some 300 years ago.
I can almost see the people of this city, a complex variety of neighbors tradesmen, merchants, farmers, lawyers, servants, slaves, gentlemen, lawyers, watchmakers, architects, blacksmiths, criminals, and even a few ladies. I can even hear the sounds of horse hooves beating against the dirt roads, conversations about arriving ships and the promise of foods from exotic places, the news from the town crier and the beat of his drum. The smell was probably a sweet, rancid combination of roasting meats, horse manure, dirt and saltwater. I envision masted schooners anchored in the harbor, a servant girl scurrying about to find the freshest food provisions, a peddler pushing a cart of essential wares, a lady wearing the latest finery from England.
Looking around I see many of the
same modest dwellings still in extistence: the Shiplap House,
the wood frame of Middletown's Tavern, the steeple of St. Anne's
Church, the secure Treasury, and the grand Georgian mansions
of Chase, Harwood and Paca.
Visit Annapolis and walk her streets. You can feel, touch, see, smell and even taste her way of life, preserved for us so we can experience the lives and times of those who came before us. Annapolis is one of the most experiential, best preserved walking museums in the U.S. Many of the domes, spires, and steeples that existed then still exist today. Much of the history of our country is captured in a few city blocks.
Many of the finest minds of colonial America interacted with each other in Annapolis. These are some of the great events that have occurred in her past:
- The great architect Christopher Wren influenced Nicholson's city plan (later refined for Williamsburg).
- Four signers of The Declaration of Independence lived in the city and three of their homes are open to the public today. The fourth is the only home of signers left in America that is privately owned.
- George Washington resigned his commission in the Continental Army at the Annapolis State House.
- Fellow patriots gathered at the Maryland Inn to sign the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.
- Annapolis served as the Capital of our new nation from November 26, 1783 to August 13, 1784.
- Annapolis is also the home of the U.S. Naval Academy and world-class sailing.
I hope you will enjoy the history and beauty of Annapolis as much as I have, as well as the resources for exploration that we've re-created for you here!
Tera
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