Planned in the Past

Francis Nicholson became governor of the province of Maryland in 1694 and was largely responsible for relocating Maryland's capital from St. Mary's City to the more centrally located town on the Severn River that he named Annapolis. Reflecting his interest in the established church, he designed the new capital with the Anglican Church and the State House as focal points, and he also provided for a boys' grammar school. Laid out more than 300 years ago, Annapolis remains a remarkable urban environment that evokes a sense of history and place through the character of its streets, its relationship to the surrounding water, and its pleasing human scale. Nicholson's 1695 town plan for Annapolis is the oldest surviving Baroque city plan in the United States.

Annapolis, Maryland · United States