Main Street - Annapolis, Maryland
Built on History
 

      
The long history
      of Annapolis dates to the 1600s, when the Colonial port city
      was founded. Later, the Maryland Statehouse (above, in 1786)
      briefly served as home to the United States Congress in the early
      days of the Republic. The Statehouse still serves as the capitol
      of Maryland.


      
Annapolis is
      built on a European street system that radiates outward from
      the Church and Statehouse Circles. Today, the Statehouse and
      St. Anne's Epispcopal Church still preside over the historic
      downtown (below).

      
 

      
After mroe than
      300 years, Main Street is still the focus of commerce in the
      community. In this view (above) it is the prominent street extending
      from Church Circle to the harbor. The domed chapel to the upper
      left is part of the U.S. Naval Academy campus, marked by the
      sea of weathered copper rooftops. The academy field house is
      the large campus structure in the upper right, near the harbor.

      

      
 The Statehouse
      is not only located at the confluence of streets, but also at
      the top of a gentle hill (above, left), and is thus a prominent
      icon that can be seen from almost every street in the downtown.
      In several spots, narrow, stair-steped alleys (above, right)
      complete the street sytem, and provide inviting pedestrian shortcuts.

      
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 All images
      are ©Tom Kloster, 2002, and may only be used by permission