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ANNAPOLIS |
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At the center of ANNAPOLIS , overlooking the town's baroque web of
streets, the Maryland State House (daily 9am-5pm, tours at 11am & 3pm;
free) was completed in 1779 and soon after served as an early capitol of
the US. It remains the oldest state house still in use. The Old Senate
Chamber , to the right of the grand entrance hall, is where the Treaty
of Paris was ratified in 1784, officially ending the Revolutionary War;
a statue of George Washington stands on the spot where he resigned his
commission as head of the Continental Army, and displays document the
role Annapolis played in the life of the young Republic. Free guided
tours are given twice a day, or you can wander around on your own,
perhaps stopping by to listen to the proceedings of Maryland's current
crop of legislators, who hold court from January to April in the more
modern wing to the north of the old building. Also on the grounds of the
State House is the cottage-sized Old Treasury Building , built in 1735
to hold colonial Maryland's currency reserves.
Many grand late eighteenth-century brick homes line the streets of
Annapolis, but for substance and grace none surpasses the Hammond-Harwood
House , two blocks west of the State House at 19 Maryland Ave, off King
George Street (Mon-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun noon-4pm; $5 including tour). The
warm redbrick Palladian villa, which consists of two symmetrical wings
connected by a central hall, was built in 1774 to the designs of William
Buckland, and is most notable for its beautifully carved decorative
woodwork, especially evident in the intricate front doorway. Despite its
architectural harmony, the house has had an unfortunate history, the
architect himself becoming so obsessed with its construction that his
fiancée left him, breaking his heart and causing his untimely death at
the age of 38; the original owner also died in mysterious circumstances
before the house was completed.
Another historic Annapolis mansion, the 1765 William Paca House , 186
Prince George St (March-Dec Mon-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun noon-4pm; Jan-Feb Fri
& Sat 10am-4pm, Sun noon-4pm; $8 including tour), was a downmarket
rooming house until the 1960s; it was restored to its period appearance
in time for the 1976 Bicentennial; the interior is decorated in warm
rich colors and fancy furniture, while the splendid formal garden, which
you can peer into from King George Street, is being constantly
landscaped and boasts an impressive viewing pavilion.
Besides such elite manors, dozens of pastel eighteenth-century clapboard
cottages and commercial structures fill the narrow streets that run down
to the waterfront. Of those that have escaped the gentrifiers, the
Tobacco Prise House , 4 Pinkney St (by appointment, tel 410/267-7619;
$2), is a colonial tobacco warehouse that now sets out to explain the
handling and storage of the valuable leaves. Further along, the Shiplap
House , 18 Pinkney St (Mon-Fri 2-4pm; free), was built in 1715 as a
tavern; now it's a small museum of Annapolis history, with a herb garden
to the rear containing assorted medicinal plants grown in colonial
times.
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Vacation Rentals in Annapolis |
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from $249.00
USD