Three Amazing Centuries
Queen
Anne’s royal
badge, with
a crown over
the entwined
thistle of Scotland
and the Tudor Rose of
England is depicted on
her namesake City’s flag.
Moments
- 1708 -- Royal Governor John Seymour proclaims City Charter from Queen Anne
- 1783 -- General George Washington resigns his commission in Annapolis.
- 1857 -- Roger Taney and Dred Scott
- 1861 -- The Civil War arrives in Annapolis
- 1873 -- William H. Butler, Sr. first African American elected to city council
- 1897 -- Wiley Bates elected to city council
- 1908 -- Grandfather Law established in municipal elections
- 1908 -- The 200th anniversary celebrations
- 1950 -- Carr's Beach kicks it!
Do you have Annapolis Charter 300 moments of your own? Then email us and we'll include them!
News
Come, explore the legacy of the Clay Street neighborhood! This state funded Legacy Community project has installed an iconic gateway marker noting the history of the Old Fourth Ward in the Clay Street neighborhood. The three sided kiosk provides a historic perspective on the people, places and events of the area, and a place for a community bulletin board for current events and neighborhood activities.
“It’s not where you live, but how you live.”
Bertina Nick, Community Activist, 2004
Preserve America: "Annapolis: Three Centuries of Communities"
The City of Annapolis was awarded $80,000 from the Presidential First Lady’s program to preserve and protect America’s heritage. This is one of only 23 grants awarded in the nation, and is the only project in Maryland to be selected.
“Annapolis illustrates:
- the role of educated women like Ann Catharine Green and St. Claire Wright in using persistence, voice, and toleration to make a place for themselves, their gender, and their issues.
- the role of free African Americans before and after emancipation at extending freedom, the franchise, middle- class status, substantial wealth, and religious integrity to themselves through the ability of Annapolis to tolerate all kinds of protest.
- the celebration of access to the middle-class through the availability of cheap city land. Governor Francis Nicholson, c. 1690, intended there to be inexpensive city lots; many artifacts and histories support this contention.”
--Dr. Mark Leone, University of Maryland
Five Archeological Exhibits
The grant will produce five permanent exhibits of archeological materials actually excavated from the sites at which they will be displayed. They will be a long term testimonial to Annapolis Charter 300. The Archeology in 
Annapolis Program (APP), from the University of Maryland, has been “digging” in Annapolis back yards for 30 years, but has never had the opportunity to display the fascinating artifacts they have excavated. These artifacts include crystals and other religious relics, clothing, coins and metal works, pottery, tools and manufacturing equipment, household items and food stuffs that tell the stories of enslaved peoples and their masters, free and indentured persons, at all levels of Annapolis citizenry over a three hundred year period.
The photos show Calvert House artifacts recovered by Archaeology
in Annapolis in 1985.
The exhibits sites include the Reynolds Tavern, Jonas Green House, Governor Calvert House, Maynard Burgess House & Fire Station #159, and the Brice House to be located at the Banneker Douglas Museum. All will be open to the public. The exhibits will include period images, maps and engaging text to explain days of long ago filled with citizens who faced many of the same challenges as do we today under far more harsh living conditions.
Twenty Interpretive Story Signs
This project will produce a total of 20 history signs to be placed outdoors throughout the eight wards in the City. Subject matter will cover the changes in governance and citizen rights and responsibilities over the three hundred years since 1708…the expansion of the franchise through the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, the why and how of the growth of the city, changes in the various city charters over time, impacts of religious expression and immigrants on the culture of the city and it’s economic structure. Through narrative, maps and photographs from various collections, the stories of Annapolitans and local events illustrating national issues will explain the changes in the concept of democracy over time.
The signs will be located on nationally connected hike/bike trails throughout the City, which host thousands of through bike travelers each year as well as regional and local walkers. The East Coast Greenway and American Discovery Trail routes are marked and open for hiking, bicycling and other uses permitted by local regulations.
Maynard Burgess House 19th Century Garden
This City-owned property is currently under restoration, and in conjunction with their Partners, will prepare the rear property to play an interpretive role about the life and times of middle class African Americans in 19th c. Annapolis.
A publicly accessible rear yard will invite visitors to explore the common household gardens that were an integral part of many Annapolis residences. Interpretive panels will detail the house history and the rise of the African American middle class.
The City received a $42,000 grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas to assist with this development.
Walking Tour Brochure
A lushly illustrated four-color touring brochure will identify the sites and stories of the exhibits and story signs created under this Preserve America grant. More information.
Partners
Four Rivers Heritage Area is a funding partner for this project, as is Historic Annapolis Foundation, Archeology in Annapolis from the University of Maryland, Banneker Douglas Museum, Historic Annapolis Foundation, ARINC, Sigma Engineering, and the Conference & Visitor Bureau.
Maryland Heritage Area Grant
Through a cooperative partnership with the Annapolis Community Foundation, and funding from the Maryland State Heritage Area Program, this grant provides key planning and educational components for the commemoration of Annapolis Charter 300, including school curriculum, children’s programming, and a history symposium.
Dr. Deborah Wood, director of the Chesapeake Children’s Museum, has designed a fourth grade curriculum reflecting the themes of the Charter commemoration. This lesson plan will include readings and activities to bring history to life for our local students. Additionally, Dr. Wood has create new scout programs that reflect a hands on teaching of what it was like to live in those troubled times. Her award winning program “Lead On, Harriet!” is a model of interactive history teaching.
Chesapeake Children’s Museum Annapolis Alive! activities will include:
- History Fair: Characters from Annapolis and Maryland history in attendance – Harriet Tubman, Wiley Bates, Queen Anne, with children’s toys and games spanning 300 years
- Underground Rail Road program – ties to personal liberty for enslaved Africans
- Charter Day Parade – demonstrations of personal freedoms such as Suffragettes with picket signs and Civil Rights protesters. Annual events, such as Kids ‘n’ Kaboodle and the Kunta Kinte Festival, provide opportunities to work together during the anniversary year of the Charter
March 6, 2006
Then County Executive Janet Owens appointed Rhonda Wardlaw as Anne Arundel County liaison to the Annapolis Charter 300 Committee. As such, she coordinates activities, planning and events between the Steering Committee and Anne Arundel County Government. Rhonda can be reached at this email or at 410-222-1288.
March 17, 2006
Peter Crofton Davies, the Town Crier of Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia, Canada and his escort Valerie visited Annapolis and presented a town crier's bell made in the famous Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, foundry. Squire Fred Taylor was in attendance and performed the first cry with the city's new bell. Peter then presented the city with a scroll from the Annapolis Royal 400 Society on the occasion of the beginning of our Annapolis, Maryland, celebrations. Thanks again to our friends from Nova Scotia!
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April 20, 2006
Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., helped kick off the 300th anniversary celebrations of the granting of the Charter of the City of Annapolis with a visit to the Maryland State Archives to see the original charter and a mural of the proclamation of the Charter.
Joining the Governor for the April 20 visit was Annapolis Alderman Mike Christman. The occasion was the first public viewing of the Annapolis Charter since its 275th anniversary celebration in 1983. The 1708 charter marks the designation of Annapolis as a city, giving it its first locally elected government and two delegates in the General Assembly.
Reading the Charter, detail. Lee Boynton, 1995
The mural is a replica of the painting by local artist Lee Boynton that hangs in the Annapolis City Council Chamber. It depicts Royal Governor John Seymour proclaiming the Annapolis Charter on November 11, 1708, after it was granted by Queen Anne. The mural was on display on the Rowe Boulevard facade of the Archives’ building for three months.
The Maryland State Archives is located at 350 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis. For more information, call Mimi Calver at 410 260-6444 or email her at mimic@mdsa.net.
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