174Maryland Naval McHenry Troop Trip

Troop 174

Maryland Troop Trip
May 26 - 29, 2006

DRAFT (April 27, 2006)

..___
Naval Academy___________________________Fort McHenry_____________

Overview

We plan to go to Annapolis, Baltimore, and some other locations in Maryland. On Saturday, May 27 we plan to hike the "Colonial Annapolis Historic Trail" and complete the requirements to earn the medal. On Sunday, May 28 we plan to visit Fort McHenry and complete the requirements to earn the medal for "The National Capital, The Battle of Bladensburg and the Star Spangled Banner Trail".

Lodging

Troop 174 will stay in rustic tent campsites at Duncan's Family Campground.

Duncan’s Family Campground
5381 Sands Road
Lothian, MD 20711
(410) 741-9558

Duncan's Family Campground has bathhouses with clean restrooms and hot showers, potable water, swimming pool and baby pool with a lifeguard, playground, beach volleyball, mini golf, a laundry, a camp store, and trash pick-up. Firewood and ice are for sale. Map of Duncan's Family Campground. Our campsites will probably be in the yellow 200's tent sites along Rabbit Run.

Driving directions from Grace Lutheran Church to Duncan's Family Campground. Duncan's Family Campground is about 275 miles from Grace Lutheran Church, and the minimum driving time is about 5 hours (without stops).

Cost

Overview

Estimated fees of $63.50 per adult and $56.60 per youth covering the campsite, admissions, Saturday supper, and Sunday supper. Parking $10 per car in Annapolis, MD. Additional costs for weekend food brought from home, souvenirs, gas for car, snacks, etc. will vary from family to family.

Details

Food

Bring your own food for breakfasts and lunches on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Lunches should be quick bag lunches. Friday supper and Monday supper on your own.
Saturday supper at 6:00 p.m. at the Old Country Buffet in Annapolis, MD. Price is $9.99 per person including gratuity.
Sunday supper at a restaurant to be decided on Sunday afternoon. Estimate $15 per person.

Transportation

Parking $10. Bring cash to pay.
BSA safety policy guidelines state "Do not travel in convoy." All drivers should have all maps necessary and be familiar with the directions.

Lodging at Duncan's Family Campground is $7 per person per night.
Admission fees

United States Naval Academy guided walking tour fees

Fort McHenry's entrance fee to the historic fort is $5.00 for adults 16 and over. Children 15 and under are admitted free of charge.

Estimated $63.50 per adult and $56.60 per youth

$21.00

$63.50

        $30.00 Saturday supper and Sunday supper at restaurants
        $ 5.50 guided walking tour fee of U.S. Naval Academy.
             free Free admission for children 15 and under to Fort McHenry.
     + $21.00 camping fee for 3 nights ($7 per person per night)
        $56.60 Estimated fees per Boy Scout or sibling

Additional fees
$10.00 per car parking fee in Annapolis

Family of four - estimated costs

+ $ 10.00

$250.20

What to bring - Label everything with your name

Wear

activity uniform while traveling to and from Maryland
activity uniform at our camp site
official uniform during day on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday

Backpack or duffle bag for items listed below
Hot cup, labeled with your name
Mess kit
Bring your own food for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday breakfasts and lunches. Lunches should be quick bag lunches.
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad, optional
Pillow, optional
No electronic devices (radios, Gameboys, etc.), except Walkman or radio with headphones.
Personal cleanup kit - toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, small plastic bottle of biodegradable soap, small towel and washcloth, etc.
Rain gear, such as a poncho
Clothes – dress for weather
Extra underwear
Socks, synthetic, not cotton
Liner socks
Hiking shorts, optional
Long pants
Well broken in hiking shoes
Well broken in athletic shoes
Flashlight with extra batteries
Warm jacket
Warm clothes to layer
Sunscreen
Hat with brim for shade
Folding chair or stool, optional
Watch
Camera, optional
Travel alarm clock for adults
Adults bring family radios
Money for admission fees, souvenirs
Maps and driving directions
Compass

Day pack items

Day pack
2 refillable water bottles labeled with your name
Personal first aid kit, including 8 bandaids and moleskin
Extra 2 pairs of socks (outer and liner) to change in the middle of the day
Rain gear, such as poncho
Hat
Pair of athletic shoes, optional
Compass
Pencil or pen
Map - get at Visitors Center
Gallon sized zip lock bag labeled with your name for map
Weekend schedule in zip lock bag
Camera, optional

Label your day pack with:

Your first initial and last name
Boy Scouts Troop 174 Yorktown Heights, NY
Telephone number

Rules

Follow the "Scout Law".
No climbing on cannons or monuments
Quiet hours 11pm to 6am
Use the buddy system
Stay with your group
No weapons, so no pocket knife. A pocket knife may be confiscated during the security screening.
Good behavior – representing troop and BSA
Campsite

Keep it clean.
Ground fires are allowed.
Clean the campsite Sunday before we leave.

Schedule - PLAN A

Friday, May 26

Arrive at Duncan's Family Campground in the evening.
Troop 174 will tent camp at rustic campsites at the Duncan's Family Campground.

5381 Sands Road

Supper on your own.
Be aware that at 10:00 a.m. today is Commissioning (graduation) at the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, and members of the graduating class do become naval officers.

Saturday, May 27 - Historic Annapolis and "Colonial Annapolis Historic Trail"

medal

United States Naval Academy

Drive to Annapolis - Area map. Directions from Duncan's Family Campground to Noah Hillman Parking Garage in Annapolis. Duncan's Family Campground is about 26 miles from the parking garage in Annapolis, and the minimum driving time is about 40 minutes.
Parking

Park at a downtown garage, such as Noah Hillman Parking Garage at 150 Gorman Street (open 24 hours, $10 all day). Map and addresses of city garages. Ample parking is available at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium ($5 to park all day). Take a FREE shuttle from the Stadium to downtown Annapolis. Schedule and hours of free shuttles. Shuttles operate from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Annapolis, chartered in 1708, is one of the oldest cities in the country. The city has the highest concentration of Georgian-style buildings in the nation, including the homes of all four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence. Three of the four homes are open to the public. Maryland is now the only state in America in which the homes of all of its signers still exist, and all are preserved in Annapolis. The waterfront, called the City Dock, is one of the best preserved in the country. Historically, this is the city's front door, as Annapolis was once an important seaport for trade with Great Britain, the West Indies, and West Africa.
"Life in Colonial Annapolis"

Important citizens like William Paca, Samuel Chase, Mathias Hammond and Charles Carroll of Carrollton lived in elegant brick homes. Most Annapolitans lived in smaller houses made of wood or brick. Shops were scattered all over town. In them, craftsmen made furniture, saddles for horses, silver spoons and coins, shoes, and many other things. Some people fixed things, like watches or broken wagon wheels. Jonas Green printed a newspaper at his house on Charles Street. Merchants sold food, cloth to make clothes, tools, ropes for boats, and things colonists usually could not make themselves.

The busiest part of town was the waterfront. Ships from near and far brought cargo and people to town. People used the Chesapeake Bay as a highway. Annapolis was a popular stopping place. Innkeeping was a good business.

A windmill stood on the point of land where the Severn River and Carroll's Creek met. Colonial housewives baked all of their bread. They bought their fresh cornmeal and flour from the mill once or twice a week.

People attended dances in the Assembly Room. They went to plays at a theater near Church Circle.

Twice a year, fairs were held in Annapolis. People came to buy and sell things, to see their friends, and to have fun.

Colonial children worked hard. Girls learned to cook and sew. They learned to make soap and candles, and to do many other jobs around the house. Boys chopped wood and carried water from the town well. They learned carpentry and how to drive a horse and wagon. Many boys of seven or eight began learning the work they would do when they grew up. Most children did not go to school. Their parents taught them to read and write. Some boys went to King William's School on State House Hill.

Begin the "Colonial Annapolis Historic Trail" on the west side of the State House. Read the trail brochure and complete the requirements, which include visiting the following sites and other points of interest listed in the booklet and answering questions. Write your answers to the booklet's questions on the "Colonial Annapolis Trail Answer Sheet" at the back of the booklet.

State House, State Circle.

Construction on the Maryland State House began in 1772 and was completed in 1779. It is the oldest state capital building in the United States still in legislative use. The wooden dome was completed in 1797, but because nails were scarce following the Revolutionary War, not a single nail was used in its construction. It is the largest wooden dome in the country built without nails. It is made of cypress timbers. Because of its convenient location, the Continental Congress met in the Old Senate Chamber of the State House from November of 1783 to August of 1784, making Annapolis the first peacetime capitol of the United States. George Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783 in the Old Senate Chamber. Also, Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War in the Old Senate Chamber in 1784. The General Assembly of the State of Maryland, made up of a 141-member House of Delegates and a 47-member Senate, meets in two large chambers in a new section of the State House. Visitors can watch Maryland's government in action when it is in session from visitor galleries in both the House and Senate Chambers. The Governor has offices in the State House and has a residence nearby in the Government House on State Circle. Self-guided tours, allow one hour. Building open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Guided tours by appointment at 11am and 3pm. Free. A photo ID is required for admission.
The lightning rod which tops the dome is a story in itself. It is a "Franklin" rod, constructed and grounded to Benjamin Franklin's specifications. In some respects, the use of this type of lightning rod was also a political statement, expressing support for Franklin's theories on protection of public buildings from lightning strikes and the rejection of the opposing theories supported by King George III. The pointed lightning rod atop such an important new public building was a powerful symbol of the independence and ingenuity of the young nation. In 1996, an examination of the dome and the acorn revealed that almost all of the material in the acorn, its pedestal and the lightning rod was original from the 18th century. During the summer and fall of that year, the acorn was removed and replaced by a new one, due to water seepage damage. The new acorn is constructed of 31 pieces of cypress made by craftspeople from around the state. Like the original, it is clad in copper and gilded on the top. Although a steel sleeve has been placed inside the new acorn to strengthen it, the original lightning rod has remained intact and continues to serve as it has for 208 years.
The Lightning Rod on the dome of the State House is the largest 'Franklin' lightning rod ever attached to a public or private building in Benjamin Franklin's lifetime. It was constructed in accord with Franklin's recommendations and has served the State House and the dome well for at least 208 years, with only one recorded instance of damage caused by lightning. Indeed the dome and the lightning rod passed their first real test when they weathered the severe hurricane of July 1788 without incident. The lightning rod is of wrought iron painted to protect it from corrosion. It is 28' tall and 2.5" square at its maximum thickness. It was in place by the time Charles Willson Peale drew the State House (dated July 1788, but probably drawn in June). A Columbian Magazine article (probably by Peale) refers to the lightning rod as a 'spire' and indicates that it is 18' above the acorn and pedestal which it passes through and which are themselves 10 feet tall. (recent measurements by Orlando Ridout V and information taken from "A Description of the State-House in Annapolis, the Capital of Maryland" from the Columbian Magazine, February 1789.)

Old Treasury Building, State Circle. Open by appoinment.

The Old Treasury is the oldest public building still standing in Maryland. Built between 1735-1737. Prior to 1733, Maryland colonists relied primarily on two types of currency: minted coins and tobacco. Because both of these were difficult to use - coins were rare and tended to be used in international trade, and tobacco fluctuated so much in price, Lord Baltimore agreed to the printing of paper money to ease the settlers' currency needs. The building, constructed in a small cruciform or cross-shaped design, provided a secure office for the Commissioners. The substantial brick walls, barred windows, and massive wooden door attest to the precautions taken to protect the record books and the currency. The office was only open on Wednesdays, and the furnishings included two iron chests, one for the record books, and one for the currency.
If you walk past the Old Treasury and up the steps toward the State House, you’ll see one of the cannons brought to Maryland by the first settlers. These colonists numbered close to 150 and arrived in 1634 on two sailing ships, the Ark and the Dove. Their settlement, on a tributary of the Potomac River in southern Maryland, was named St. Mary's City and served as the colony’s first capital. The colonists mounted their cannon to protect St. Mary's from possible attack. Over time the river bank eroded and the cannons fell into the St. Mary’s River. Two hundred years later, several were discovered; this one was brought to Annapolis as a reminder of Maryland's beginning in 1634.

Brooksby-Shaw House, 21 State Circle. Now State government offices.

Built in the 1720's for Cornelius Brooksby and later owned by prominent Annapolis cabinet maker John Shaw. Some of Shaw's furniture is on display at the State House and in the city's historic house museums.

Government House, State Circle.

Government House has been the official residence of the Governors of Maryland since 1870. It is a Georgian-style country house. When it was built in 1870, it was of the fashionable style of the period, a Victorian mansion with a mansard roof. Visitors to the house entered through magnificent walnut doors, carved with the Maryland coat of arms and symbols of Maryland industry and agriculture.
The state bought land in 1868 to build a new home for the governor, which was completed in 1879 as a French Empire mansion. Remodeling work done in 1936 converted the house to the five-part Georgian style of the colonial period. The interior and the brounds were remodeled in 1987-1990. Tours available by appointment.

St. Anne's Episcopal Church, 199 Duke of Gloucester Street

The parish was founded in 1692. The second church building was destroyed by fire in 1858. This is the third church building on this site, and was built in 1859 in Romanesque Revival style. King William III presented the communion silver in 1695. The St. Anne's Memorial Window was designed by Tiffany and Co. won first prize for ecclesiastical art in the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Open daily 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Free.

Maryland Inn, 16 Church Circle.

Merchant Thomas Hyde completed the three-story tavern and inn before the Revolution. The stone foundations and flemish bond brick walls mark the original form. Robert Fowler acquired the building in 1869 and enlarged it, creating a Second-Empire-style hotel with the typical mansard roof. The building is unique in that it was built as an inn and has remained an inn throughout its life.

Reynold's Tavern, 7 Church Circle. Tea room, pub, and inn.

Reynolds Tavern is one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in Annapolis. The building has been restored beautifully to reflect the working nature of the tavern and the elegance of the 18th Century. Reynolds Tavern, built between 1747 and 1755 by William Reynolds, a hatter and tavern keeper, is the oldest tavern in Annapolis and one of the oldest in the U.S. Sly Fox Pub & Restaurant in the cellar gives you a flavor of what a pub was like over 250 years ago. We have casual dining and alfresco dining in the courtyard. Reynolds Tea Room has lunch, English afternoon tea and elegant casual dining in the evening. Our traditional Afternoon Teas have been compared to the very best in England. We are proud of the fact that all our cakes, pastries and savory dishes are cooked exclusively on the premises.

Quynn-Brewer House, 18 West Street. Now law offices.

Lovely brick building. Built circa 1790 for Allen Quynn, a former mayor of Annapolis.

Acton Place
Sign of the Bible House
Adams-Kilty House, 131 Charles Street. Private home.

William Kilty was an attorney who published Kilty's Laws of Maryland. Lovely freestanding brick home.

Forensic Club, 170 Duke of Gloucester Street. Now the Georgian House Bed and Breakfast.

The meeting place of the Forensic Club. This group included Thomas Stone, William Paca, and Samuel Chase, signers of the Declaration of Independence.

City Hall, 211-213 Main Street.

Old City Hall and Engine House built 1821-22.

The Settlers House
Scott House, 4 Shipwright Street. Private home.

Dr. Upton Scott, born in Ireland and medically trained in Scotland, began building his Georgian mansion in 1762. Two years later it was described as "the best town house in America". The School Sisters of Notre Dame, who acquired the house in 1876, used it as a convent until 1968.

Carroll House, 107 Duke of Gloucester Street. Closed to the public in 2006 while it is being stabilized.

Birthplace and home of Charles Carroll, one of the wealthiest men in colonial America. Carroll experienced both persecution and restrictions for his Catholic faith. He was the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He was the last survivor of all 56 signers dying in 1832 in his 96th year. The Carroll House is one of only fifteen surviving signer's birthplaces in the United States. The house was built circa 1680-1710, and was extensively remodeled in 1749, 1773, and 1885.
Charles¹ grandfather, Charles Carroll the Settler, left his native Ireland (Kings County) because of English discrimination against his faith. Hoping to find a freer existence in the New World. Carroll arrived in St. Mary¹s City, capitol of the colony of Maryland, in 1689. He carried Lord Baltimore¹s commission appointing him Attorney General of Maryland and a new family motto: "Anywhere So Long As There Be Freedom." Within months of Carroll¹s arrival, the edicts of the Glorious Revolution jeopardized the position of Catholics in Maryland and threatened the power of their benefactor, the Lord Proprietor. This haven for English Catholics envisioned by the first and second Lords Baltimore (Calverts) never materialized in Maryland. In 1691, William III removed Maryland from control of the Proprietor and appointed Sir Lionel Copley, a Protestant, governor. Carroll was stripped of his public position and imprisoned for refusing to renounce his faith. When Charles Carroll the Settler died in 1720, he was considered Maryland¹s wealthiest and largest land owner. His personal home and property sat with great advantage on the water, off Duke of Gloucester Street, and featured a family chapel, since Catholics were allowed by law to only worship in private.
Charles Carroll of Annapolis (1702-1782) returned home from his European studies in 1722 to become the legal heir of the Settler. Like his father, he never gave up hope of overcoming the religious intolerance of Maryland penal laws which kept Catholics from publicly holding public office, practicing law, voting and providing education for their children. In defense of their beliefs, Catholics zealously guarded their fortunes by marrying into other Catholic families and sending their children abroad to study. It is likely that at the same time he was forming an alliance with Elizabeth Brooke in 1726-1727, Carroll had possibly begun construction of his monumental brick house adjacent to that of his widowed mother and sisters. Later, a passage (or hyphen) would connect the two homes.
Charles Carroll of Carrollton was born on September 19, 1737 at the Annapolis home of his parents, Charles Carroll of Annapolis and Elizabeth Brooke. As the only son, Charles was heir not only to the largest fortune in colonial Maryland but to the ancestral legacy and traditions of Œdefending family and faith¹ passed on by the Carroll generations. Young Charles Carroll, known as "Charley" to his parents, was sent in 1747, at the age of ten, to Maryland¹s eastern shore, along with his cousin John Carroll, to study secretly at the Jesuit school at Bohemia Manor in Cecil County. By 1749, Charley and John, who would later become the first American Catholic Bishop, were sent to study at St. Omers in French Flanders. Charles was instructed in classical studies in Paris and by 1760 was studying English law at the Inner Temple in London. At the death of his mother, a refined and well-educated Carroll returned home after 16 years abroad.

Ridout Homes, 110-120 Duke of Gloucester Street. Private homes.

The Ridout House at 120 Duke of Gloucester Street is a handsome Georgian mansion built in 1764 by John Ridout, an Englishman who came to Maryland in 1753 as a private secretary to Governor Horatio Sharpe. He built this home at the time of his marriage to Mary Ogle, a daughter of Governor Samuel Ogle. In 1774, Ridout constructed three adjoining houses, intended as rental properties, adjacent to his home. This is the earliest known group of connected houses surviving in the Chesapeake region.

Summer Garden Theatre, 27 Compromise Street.

Once was the Shaw Blacksmith Shop.

Sign O' the Whale building, 99 Main Street.

Customs House. Built 1770's and used for baking bread for Revolutionary War troops. Burned in 1790, reconstructed in 1792. Later a grocery store. Now Sign O' the Whale.

Collins-Callahan House
McCusker House
Tobacco-Prise House, 4 Pinkney Street

An early 19th century warehouse typical of those that once surrounded the waterfront. In the adjacent side yard is a replica of a colonial tobacco prise, a device for pressing tobacco leaves firmly into hogsheads. Houses a model of the City Dock in the 1750's.

Slicer-Shiplap House, 18 Pinkney Street.

One of the the oldest surviving buildings in Annapolis, Shiplap House was built circa 1715. It was probably built by its first occupant, Sawyer Edward Smith. Smith ran an ordinary (tavern) in the house, serving the waterfront clientele. It was used by two of its 18th-century owners as a tavern and by two as a store. It was eventually a rooming house with 27 people living there, and later condemned by the city, but was rescued by the Historic Annapolis Foundation, which now uses it for its offices. The building has three types of overlapping wood siding, similar to a ship. The building now serves as administrative offices for the Historic Annapolis Foundation.

Middleton Tavern, 2 Market Space.

The building was constructed circa 1740. In 1750, Samuel Horatio Middleton bought the property from Mrs. Elizabeth Bennett and established an Inn for seafaring men. It was one of Annapolis' most successful taverns. It was only one of several enterprises operated by the entrepreneurial Middleton. He also ran a ferry linking Annapolis to Rock Hall on the Eastern Shore. The ferry offered a popular shortcut on the route from Virginia to Philadelphia. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and Benjamin Franklin all recorded stops here in their journals. Taverns in the 18th century were far more than a place to have a quick brew. A portside establishment like Middleton's was where one caught up on news from the outside world, heard about the latest imports and fashions, and congregated with friends. Overlooking the City Dock, Middleton's was a popular meeting place for social organizations such as the "Tuesday Club." There was always a friendly game of cards or a political discussion happening by the fireplace. Middleton's Tavern continues as a popular restaurant and gathering place to this day.
The Tavern was an all important stopping place for early travelers using the ferries to cross the Bay, including George Washington; Tench Tilghman, on the way to Philadelphia with the message of Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown; and Thomas Jefferson, whose records note that in 1783 he gave Samuel Middleton passage money to Rock Hall on the Eastern Shore. In those days, Middleton's was much more than a tavern; it has been described as one of the early showplaces of Annapolis, with its gardens spreading form Prince George Street to the water's edge.
For a while it was Mandie's Confectionary. Fire gutted the building in 1971 and 1973.
Serves lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch.

John Sands House, 130 Prince George Street.

Built in 1680 for Richard Hill, it is oldest standing frame building in Annapolis. Hill and Robert Proctor owned the land in 1685 that comprised Annapolis. Robert Proctor is thought to have had a tavern near the site of St. Mary's Church.

Patrick Creagh House, 160 Prince George Street. Private home.

The Patrick Creagh House, the small, low-lying 1 1/2-story gambrel-roofed house at 160 Prince George Street in downtown Annapolis, was originally built between 1735 and 1747 by local craftsman Patrick Creagh. He was a shipbuilder, whose boatworks were at the foot of Prince George Street and later the site of the colony jail or "gaol." He was also a painter, ship owner, tobacco trader, slave trader and contractor who built the "Old Treasury." The dwelling was enlarged during the late 18th or early 19th centuries, extending southwest into the lot presently designated as 156 Prince George Street. Around 1820 the property was purchased by free African-American John Smith. Smith operated a livery stable at the rear of the property and his wife Lucy operated Aunt Lucy’s Bakeshop at the corner of Main and Greene Streets. The building is a significant example of a small freestanding, mid 18th century dwelling and an excellent example of the work and residence of local artisan and tradesman, Patrick Creagh. It is architecturally reminiscent of the Maryland manor houses of the late 17th century. Creagh’s house has always been a private residence.

James Brice House, 42 East Street.

The James Brice House is the tallest and most massive of Annapolis's Georgian mansions. Brice built the impressive five-part Georgian mansion between 1767 and 1773, and it remained in the family for a century. Early in the 20th century Carvel Hall used the house as an assex to its main hotel. It is now owned by the International Masonry Institute.

William Paca House, 186 Prince George Street.

The William Paca House is one of Annapolis' and America’s most impressive restored 18th-century mansions. When built by Paca between 1763 and 1765, it was one of the first five-part Georgian homes in Annapolis. Its style evokes the English country villas of the time. Paca was a lawyer and was one of four Declaration of Independence signers from Maryland as well as governor of Maryland from 1782-85. Paca helped to organize the local Sons of Liberty to protest the 1765 Stamp Act. The 2 acre garden was originally laid out in 1765-72, and has a Chinese Chippendale bridge, a summer house, a fish-shaped pond, formal parterres, and a wilderness garden. Take a guided 45 minute tour ($8 adults, $5 for 6 to 17 years old) to experience how Paca and his family lived. You can also step into the spectacular two-acre walled Paca Garden, featuring four formal parterres, a wilderness area, and five reconstructed garden buildings. Open Saturday 10-5. Last tour begins at 3:30pm. Gardens close at 4pm. Admission $8 adults, $5 ages 6-17, $5 family rate (2 adults and 2 children) $25.

Jennings House

Governors of Maryland Residence, 1777-1870

Dorsey House, 211 Prince George Street.

This circa 1700 home was built for Major Edward Dorsey. The first Annapolis meeting of the Maryland Assembly was held here February 28, 1695.

Bordley-Randall House, 9 Randall Court. Private home.

One of the oldest houses in Annapolis, built circa 1760 by Stephen Bordley, who was the colony's Attorney General from 1756 to 1763. Another notable lawyer, Alexander Randall, purchased the property in 1847 and substantially enlarged the house to accommodate his sizeable family. In 1939 the house acquired its third notable family of owners when Capt. P. V. H. Weems, developer of the Weems system of navigation bought it.

McDowell Hall, St. John's College campus

Consturction began in 1742 on a house for the colonial governor, Thomas Bladen. When the legislature refused to vote for more funds for completion, construction stopped abruptly at the second floor level, and the empty shell became known as "Bladen's Folly". It was given to St. John's College in 1784.
In a 1766 letter, Thomas Jefferson referred to McDowell Hall as “the one public building worth mentioning” in the city of Annapolis.
McDowell Hall housed the entire college for many years: classrooms, dormitory, lecture hall, grammar school, laboratory, and library. After a devastating fire in 1909, the building was reconstructed to its original specifications, a preservation victory for alumni.The hall is named for St. John's first president.
St. John’s College has many illustrious alumni, among them senators, governors, state legislators, and diplomats. George Washington sent his step-grandson and nephews here; Francis Scott Key was a 1796 graduate of the college.

Memorial Cannon, St. John's College campus

The cannon between Pinkney Hall and McDowell Hall is from the War of 1812, and was dredged out of the Baltimore harbor with 12 others.

Monument to the French soldiers and sailors, St. John's College campus

The Revolutionary War could not have been won without the help of the French. When the French were marching through Annapolis on their way to the pivotal Battle of Yorktown in 1781, several soldiers died here and were buried on campus, near College Creek. The monument was erected in their honor. No one knows how many soldiers were buried here or who they were, but the monument stands as one of the first memorials in the country to the unknown dead.With the attack at Yorktown by the Americans and French, Cornwallis was bottled up. Although the war dragged on until 1783, it was, in effect, over with the 1781 American victory at Yorktown.
Henry Marion, a professor at the Naval Academy, suggested the monument to mark the graves of the unknown French dead. He had been in Cherbourg when the body of John Paul Jones was removed from French soil and sent to the Naval Academy. Marion was touched by the care the French gave to the cemetery for America seamen who had been killed June 27, 1864, in a sea fight off Cherbourg between the U.S. sloop of war Kearsarge and the Confederate cruiser Alabama. It was time, Professor Marion felt, for a reciprocal act which would honor those French who had given their lives to the American cause. On March 26, 1906, the monument's cornerstone was laid. The monument was dedicated April 18, 1911. It was designed by Baltimore sculptor J. Maxwell Miller.
Present at the unveiling of the French Monument were:

Barrister's House, St. John's College and King George Street

Dr. Charles Carroll built this house from 1724 to 1727 on the corner of Main and Conduit after he bought the land in 1723. Charles Carroll, the Barrister, was the principal writer for the Declaration of Delegates of Maryland, originally scheduled for action on July 3, 1776, but adopted on July 6, 1776, two days after the Continental Congress agreed on the Declaration of Independence. The text now makes up the first 45 articles of the Maryland Constitution, which he also helped write.
Besides law, civic, and business matters, Carroll's interests included horseracing and art. With others he helped make up a purse of 83 pounds to send Charles Wilson Peale to London to study painting for a year. He urged Peale to remain, when he became discouraged, and to paint portraits rather than miniatures.
The Historic Annapolis Foundation bought the house in 1955 to save it from demolition for commercial development and moved it to St. John's campus, where it serves as the admissions office. It was carefully separated from the oyster-shell mortar that held it in place, the T-shaped house was divided into two sections, and the main block was rolled to the St. John’s campus on a flatbed truck. The building was meticulously restored by the college. The Carroll-Barrister House contains the offices of Admissions and Advancement.

Woodward Hall, St. John's College campus

Along with Randall Hall, Woodward Hall was one of two buildings added to the campus after the Civil War. During the war, St. John’s College was taken over by the Union Army, first as the site of a camp for paroled prisoners, and later, as a military hospital. At the war’s end, the campus and its buildings were in a sorry state. The Maryland Assembly gave the college a small grant to begin repairs, but the college had to borrow more to repair the damage and soon found itself burdened with debt. James T. Woodward, a New York banker, assumed the college’s mortgage at favorable terms and made other generous gifts to the college. In gratitude, the college named its first post-war building after his father, Henry Williams Woodward. Woodward Hall, designed by T. Henry Randall, architect of Baltimore’s Lyric Opera House, was built to house the library; the physics, chemistry, and biology labs; and the armory. When the library outgrew Woodward Hall in 1996, the building was renovated and rededicated as the Barr-Buchanan Center to honor the founders of the New Program. The building now houses the Graduate Institute.

US Naval Academy Alumni Association, 24 King George Street.

Ogle Hall, built between 1739 and 1742, takes its name from the Ogle family, who lived here from 1747 to 1815. The ballroom wing was built in 1775 by Benjamin Ogle, son of Maryland Governor Samuel Ogle. Visitors to the house included George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. The USNA Alumni Association has used the house since 1944 for social functions and as its administrative offices.

Chase-Lloyd House, 22 Maryland Avenue.

Samuel Chase was a lawyer. Not only was he one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence, but Samuel Chase was also appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by George Washington, in 1796. There he contributed to a number of important cases, including one that asserted priority of federal treaties over state statutes, and another that helped to restrict government’s authority through the principle we now call “due process of law.
Married in 1762, Samuel Chase immediately made plans to build a new home in Annapolis. Construction began in 1769, but by 1771 Samuel Chase decided he could not afford to complete the ambitious project. Chase never lived in the house. He sold the unfinished house to a wealthy plantation owner and lawyer from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Edward Lloyd IV. Lloyd hired the renowned English architect and master builder William Buckland to complete the mansion. The elaborate carved details, including the windows, cornices, and doorways, are by Buckland. According to Elizabeth Anderson in Annapolis: A walk through history (©1984), Lloyd IV was known as “Edward the Magnificant” for enjoying such an opulent life style. He was said to be rowed across Chesapeake Bay to his new home in Annapolis. It was here, in 1802, that Edward’s youngest daughter, Mary Tayloe Lloyd married Francis Scott Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner.
Subsequently the house was sold back to the Chase family, where in 1886, Mrs. Samuel Ridout (a niece), died leaving the house to the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. In her will, Mrs. Ridout stipulated the property be used as a home for elderly ladies needing to find “a retreat from the vicissitudes of life”. The Chase House foundation continues to oversee the home today, opening the lower floor for public tours.

Hammond-Harwood House, off King George Street at 19 Maryland Avenue

The Hammond-Harwood House is one of America’s finest examples of colonial architecture. The building demonstrates the flair and grace of the late Georgian style. It was built in 1774 by renowned English Architect William Buckland as a town residence for wealthy tobacco planter Matthias Hammond. It has one of America’s finest collections of 18th-century decorative and fine arts. It was among the first American buildings to be designated a National Historic Landmark. Admission is $6 adults, students with ID $5.50, $3 children under 11. Tours at 12 noon, 1 pm, 2pm, 3 pm, and 4pm. Allow a 1 hour for the tour.

Stewart Stone House, 207 Hanover Street. Private home.

This Georgian house, built from 1761-1764 was home to Anthony Stewart, owner of a brig named after his daughter Peggy. Stewart's burning of his ship, after a discovery of a hidden shipment of tea, gave Annapolis its Revolutionary War "tea party". Thomas Stone, a later owner, was the youngest Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence at the age of 33. Stone favored reconciliation with the British as late as June of 1776. A significant addition was added to the home in 1894.

John Paul Jones Sarcophagus, crypt in Naval Academy Chapel.

Father of the U.S. Navy and the United States' first naval hero, John Paul Jones, is entombed at the U.S. Naval Academy and is guarded by Midshipmen 24-hours a day, three hundred sixty five days a year. Jones is forever immortalized by uttering the words, "I have not yet begun to fight", during the battle between USS Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis, off the coast of England in 1779. Jones was buried in a pauper's grave in Paris. More than a century later, his remains were returned to the United States and placed in a crypt at the academy's chapel in a ceremony presided over by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Naval Academy Chapel

The 1904 chapel, designed by noted New York architect Ernest Flagg, is located on the highest point of ground within the "Yard", the academy's term for its campus.
Several of the stained glass windows were designed by Tiffany and Co.
Midshipman Prayer (interfaith version) (traditional version)
"Eternal Father, Strong to Save", the Navy hymn

U.S.S. Maine Memorial

The mizzen mast is at the U.S. Naval Academy near the seawall. Plaque.
In January 1898, the U.S.S. Maine, an armored cruiser built in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, was sent to Havana, Cuba, to protect U.S. interests during a time of local insurrection and civil disturbances. Three weeks later, at 9:40 on the evening of February 15, a terrible explosion on board Maine shattered the stillness in Havana Harbor. Later investigations revealed that more than five tons of powder charges for the vessel's six and ten-inch guns ignited, virtually obliterating the forward third of the ship. The remaining wreckage rapidly settled to the bottom of the harbor. Most of Maine's crew were sleeping or resting in the enlisted quarters in the forward part of the ship when the explosion occurred. Two hundred and sixty-six men lost their lives as a result of the disaster. Captain Sigsbee and most of the officers survived because their quarters were in the aft portion of the ship. On March 28, the US Naval Court of Inquiry declared that a naval mine caused the explosion. The explosion was a precipitating cause of the Spanish-American War that began in April 1898 and which used the rallying cry, "Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain." At the time, it was used as pretext for war by those who were already inclined to go to war with Spain.
On August 5, 1910, Congress authorized the raising of Maine to remove it as a navigation hazard in Havana Harbor. On February 2, 1912, she was refloated under supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers and towed out to sea where she was sunk in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico on March 16, 1912, with appropriate military honors and ceremonies.
In 1976, Admiral Hyman Rickover of the United States Navy published an investigation that concluded that the tragedy was self-inflicted, probably the result of a coal bunker fire. Some historians have disputed these findings, maintaining that failure to detect spontaneous combustion in the coal bunker was highly unlikely. Other people maintain that Maine was the victim of sabotage or sacrificed to rally public opinion against Spain. In an expedition in 1998, the National Geographic Society explored the wreck and commissioned a structural analysis by Advanced Marine Enterprises. They determined that the explosion could have been internal; the theory they embraced was that an undetected smoldering coal fire had ignited volatile coal dust in the air, creating a small explosion that touched off the nearby powder magazine. However, AME also said damage to the bottom plating and seafloor could be consistent with an external mine.
There is a memorial to those who died at the Arlington National Cemetery, which includes the ship's main mast. There is also a memorial, consisting of the shield and scrollwork from the bow of the ship, in Bangor, Maine. The fore mast of the Maine is located at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.
There is a traditional in-joke among Midshipmen at the Naval Academy that the U.S.S. Maine, with its main mast in eastern Virginia and its fore mast in central Maryland, is the longest ship in the Navy.

United States Naval Academy Visitor Center

The Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center features interactive exhibits, pictorial displays, a theatre showing the award-winning film, "To Lead and to Serve", and an extensive gift shop and vending machines.
Freedom 7 space capsule is on display. Freedom 7 flew the first U.S. manned suborbital flight in 1961 carrying astronaut Allen Shepard, the first American in space. Allen Shepard was an excellent student, and was appointed to U. S. Naval Academy. Allen Shepard was the 5th man to land on the Moon. While on the moon, Shepard playfully pulled out a golf ball and whacked it across the lunar surface. RealVideoClip (1 minute 41 seconds) of Shepard hitting golf balls on the Moon.
Guided walking tours of the United States Naval Academy are available. Photo ID is required.

United States Naval Academy, intersection of King George and Randall Streets.

All visitors over the age of 16 MUST have a valid photo ID. No pocket knives. General visitors may walk in through Gate 1 or Gate 3.

Directions to Gate 1 at junction of King George and Randall Streets: In Annapolis, take Rowe Blvd. 1.6 miles to where it dead-ends at College Ave. - make a left turn. Go to the first stop light, this will be King George St. - make a right turn. Follow King George St. for two blocks and you will see Gate 1.

Open daily 9am to 5pm to visitors. There is no public parking, and only vehicles with a pass are allowed.
The United States Naval Academy is the undergraduate college of the U.S. Navy. It was established in 1845 on the site of the old Fort Severn.
The Naval Academy Museum in Preble Hall features some of the nation's earliest battle flags, the table on which the agreement was signed for Japan's surrender at the end of World War II, and a collection of model ships considered to be the finest in the world.
The Naval Academy gives young men and women the up-to-date academic and professional training needed to be effective naval and marine officers in their assignments after graduation.
In 1845 the War Department acquired Fort Severn and adjoining land to house the newly established Naval College, now the United States Naval Academy. The campus includes Beaux-Arts buildings designed in the eraly 1990's by Ernest Flagg and contempoarary buildings designed in the 1960's by John Carl Warnecke.
U.S. Naval Academy history.

6:00 p.m. supper at Old Country Buffet. $9.99 per person, includes gratuity. See "Everyday favorites" and the daily features for Saturday Dinner on the menu.

81-A Forest Drive

Sunday, May 28 - Fort McHenry and "The National Capital, The Battle of Bladensburg and The Star Spangled Banner Trail"

Fort McHenry