BigDaddyData.Com: Maryland Annapolis

{an-ap'-oh-lis}

Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It has a population of 33,187 (1990). First settled as the town of Providence in 1649, Annapolis is located 3 km (2 mi) from the Chesapeake Bay on the Severn River. It is the site of the United States Naval Academy and of St. John 's College. There is some commercial fishing and shellfishing (crabs and oysters), and numerous small boatyards service the pleasure and commercial vessels that use the city's protected harbor. The downtown area is not radically different from its colonial plan. Narrow streets radiate from Church Circle and from State Circle, site of the historic statehouse where George Washington resigned (1783) as commander of the Continental Army and where, a few weeks later, Congress ratified the Paris Peace Treaty. In 1786 the city hosted the Annapolis Convention, which led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The city was named in honor of Princess (later Queen) Anne in 1694 when Maryland's colonial capital was moved to Annapolis from St. Mary's City.
Bibliography: Anderson, Elizabeth B., Annapolis (1984).