Annapolis: An American Classic (October/November 1986 | Volume: 37, Issue: 6)

Annapolis: An American Classic

AH article image

Authors:

Historic Era:

Historic Theme:

Subject:

October/November 1986 | Volume 37, Issue 6

On even the briefest visit to Annapolis, Maryland, you’ll find yourself wandering the same streets over again; and each time is an occasion for wonder. It’s that compact—the historic district measures a mere third of a square mile—and that rich, dense, and rewarding.

When it comes to tarrying, you might be drawn as I was to two special places that together evoke the essential Annapolis; as it was in the first stirrings of its mid-eighteenth-century golden age and as it is, reborn, today. One destination lies along the harbor; the other occupies a walled garden.

Start, then, at the harbor fronting on the south bank of the Severn River, where the town began. Here, in 1650, Thomas Todd built a shipyard on what is now Spa Creek, one of many inlets that still flow, fingerlike, into the lower town. Today only the name Shipwright Street survives as a reminder of Todd’s risky venture, but the harbor itself is ringed with relics from the early days. An innovative preservation group called Historic Annapolis, Inc., has seen to the restoration of many of these early commercial buildings. Open to visitors are the victualling warehouse with exhibits on Annapolis’s early maritime history, the Tobacco Prise House (a tiny warehouse for tobacco remnants that were shipped in hogsheads to England), and the Market House, which was saved just in time from being torn down to make room for a parking lot. The Market House story is a classic in the annals of preservation: racing against a city plan to destroy the building in 1968, Historic Annapolis uncovered a deed dating back to 1784 which proved that the property belonged to seven Annapolis merchants. Should the market ever be demolished, this document read, the land would revert to the original owners. A scramble to track down surviving descendants ensued: the group located three survivors, who agreed to join them in a lawsuit. Faced with the historical evidence and a favorable citywide referendum, the city council caved in—a victory for locals and tourists alike. Currently, nine vendors exist harmoniously in the wood frame open-market space, offering clams and oysters on the half-shell, spicy crab soup, and tempting pastries.

Riding a tide of prosperity that swept over Annapolis at the close of the French and Indian Wars, its harbor, giving on to the Chesapeake Bay, became a busy commercial arena. A rope walk, chandlery, customshouse, and cooperage, plus seafood houses and taverns, all sprang to life down by the docks. Annapolis was soon designated an official port of entry, and by the time the Revolution began, it had grown into a major outfitting port, an import center, and a staging area for troops and matériel.

Much of the colonial harbor still stands, even if gift shops and boutiques have invaded the scene. A harbor-side Hilton hotel has been built partly on pilings over the water, providing an extremely pleasant long outdoor deck used