The New International Encyclopædia/Annapolis (Maryland)

ANNAPOLIS. The capital of Maryland, port of entry, and county seat of Anne Arundel County, on the Severn River, about 2 miles from Chesapeake Bay, 26 miles south by east of Baltimore and 37 miles by rail from Washington, D. C. It is on the Annapolis and Baltimore Short Line, and the Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore Railroad, and is connected by boat with Baltimore and other points on the bay (Map: Maryland, M 5). Among the more prominent points of interest are the Governor's House, a tine State House, the county buildings, the United States Naval Academy (q.v.), St. John's College, founded in 1789, and statues of Chief Justice Taney and General De Kalb. The city has a fine harbor, and is the seat of an extensive oyster-canning industry, the product being largely exported. Pop., 1890, 7604; 1900, 8525.

In 1608 Captain John Smith visited the site of Annapolis, but no settlement was made until 1649, when a company of Puritans from Virginia established here the town of “Providence” (later changed successively to “Proctor's,” “The Town,” “Anne-Arundel Town,” and, finally, in honor of Queen Anne, to “The Town of Annapolis”). In 1694 the capital of the province was moved hither from St. Mary's, and in 1708 (August 10), Annapolis was erected into a city. Early in the eighteenth century one of the first free schools on the continent was organized here. Out of this St. John's College (q.v.) later developed. On May 25,1774, the citizens passed resolutions of sympathy for Boston, whose port had recently been closed, and on October 18, the brig Peggy Stewart, laden with tea, was publicly burned. On December 23, 1783, Washington surrendered to Congress, sitting temporarily at Annapolis, his commission as commander-in-chief. In 1845 the United States Naval Academy was established here. Consult: Ridgely, Annals of Annapolis to 1812 (Baltimore, 1841); and a sketch in Powell's Historic Towns of the Southern States (New York, 1900).