Colonial Annapolis Historic District, Annapolis (must see)

Colonial Annapolis Historic District preserves one of the largest groups of eighteenth-century buildings in the United States. The area grew during the colonial period, when the nearby harbor was an active center for trade. Many buildings from the early and mid-1700s still remain, showing what the town looked like when Maryland was a British colony.

The street layout is unusual compared with most colonial towns. Instead of a grid, the roads spread outward from two circular plazas, a design influenced by Baroque planning used in eighteenth-century Europe. The plan was created in the 1690s by royal governor Francis Nicholson. One circle was intended for government buildings and the other for churches, and this design still shapes the streets today.

One of the most important buildings in the district is the Maryland State House, completed in 1779 and the oldest state capitol still used for legislative work in the United States. In 1783 and 1784 the Continental Congress met here, and in December 1783 George Washington resigned as commander of the Continental Army inside the building. All four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence also lived in this community.

The district also includes St. John’s College, founded in 1696 as King William’s School and recognized as the third-oldest college in the United States. A tulip poplar known as the Liberty Tree once stood on the campus where residents discussed ideas about independence. The original tree was damaged by Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and later removed, but descendants have been planted in Maryland and other places.