Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Annapolis

ANNAPOLIS, city, port of entry, capital of the State of Maryland, and county-seat of Anne Arundel co.; on the Severn river, near Chesapeake Bay, and several railroads; 40 miles E. of Washington, D. C. It is in a fruit and berry-growing region; has oyster-packing plants, marine railway, glass factory, a National bank, daily, weekly, and other periodicals; and is widely known as the seat of the United States Naval Academy. The city also contains St. John's College, several State buildings, convent, a house of Redemptorist Fathers, residences of many naval officers and of families of officers on sea duty, and bronze statues of General John de Kalb and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. The city was founded in 1649; was first named Providence; and received a city charter and its present name, in honor of Queen Anne, in 1708. The first Federal Constitutional Convention was held here in 1786, and Washington surrendered his commission in the army in the Senate room of the State House. Pop. (1910) 8,609; (1920) 11,214.