What to See in Annapolis - Top Sights and Attractions

Historic landmark with exhibits . The Maryland State House is located in Annapolis, Maryland. It is the oldest U.S. state capitol in continuous legislative use, dating to 1772 and houses the Maryland General Assembly, plus the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. In 1783 and 1784 it served as the capitol building of the United States Congress of the Confederation, and is where Ratification Day, the formal end of the American Revolutionary War, occurred.

The capitol has the distinction of being topped by the largest wooden dome in the United States constructed without nails. The current building, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, is the third statehouse on its site. The building is administered by the State House Trust, established in 1969.^[1]

Mansion in Annapolis, Maryland. The William Paca House is an 18th-century Georgian mansion in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. William Paca was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and a three-term Governor of Maryland. The house was built between 1763 and 1765 and its architecture was largely designed by Paca himself. The 2-acre walled garden, which includes a two-story summer house, has been restored to its original state.

The William Paca House and Garden was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

The original one-story office and kitchen pavilions, and their connecting hyphens, were altered in the 19th century with the house's conversion to a hotel, by a second story added to the hyphens and the west wing. These changes have since been reversed, and the building approximates its original outward appearance, both inside and out.^[6]

Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. The Hammond–Harwood House is a historic house museum at 19 Maryland Avenue in Annapolis, Maryland, USA. Built in 1774, is one of the premier colonial houses remaining in America from the British colonial period. It is the only existing work of colonial academic architecture that was principally designed from a plate in Andrea Palladio's I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura. The house was designed by the architect William Buckland in 1773–1774 for wealthy farmer Matthias Hammond of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It was modeled on the design of the Villa Pisani in Montagnana, Italy, as depicted in Book II, Chapter XIV of Palladio's work. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, and is now managed by a non-profit organization as a museum.^[7]

Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen college football and lacrosse teams, and the professional Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse. The stadium is also the host of the Military Bowl.

The stadium's opener was a 29–2 win over William & Mary on September 26, 1959, and its current seating capacity is 34,000. The attendance record is 38,792, set in 2017 during Navy's 48–45 defeat of Air Force on October 7. Prior to 1959, Navy played its home games at Thompson Stadium, which seated only 12,000. Its site on campus is now occupied by Lejeune Hall, the venue for USNA water sports.

The stadium hosted soccer games as part of the 1984 Summer Olympics. In April 2018, D.C. United of Major League Soccer played a regular season game versus Columbus Crew.^[9]

Box girder bridge in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The U.S. Naval Academy Bridge is a bridge that crosses the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland. It is located downriver from the Severn River Bridge and adjacent to the United States Naval Academy. Its predecessor, a bascule bridge, once served as the main point of entry into Annapolis from both Ritchie Highway and the ferry to the Eastern Shore prior to the construction of the John Hanson Highway and the current Severn River Bridge. In 1994, the deteriorating bascule bridge was replaced with the current crossing. The bridge's design was the winning entry of a bridge design competition, and was officially named the U.S. Naval Academy Bridge in honor of the Naval Academy's 150th anniversary. The Naval Academy Bridge is part of Maryland Route 450 and provides an alternative entrance to the Naval Academy, avoiding downtown Annapolis.^[12]

Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Alumni Hall is an indoor stadium at the United States Naval Academy, in Annapolis in the U.S. state of Maryland. Completed in 1991, it seats 5,710 and serves as the primary assembly hall for the Brigade of Midshipmen. It is used for athletic contests — including basketball and wrestling — and is home for the Naval Academy women's and men's basketball teams, members of the Patriot League. Additionally, it is adaptable for lectures, assemblies, theatrical productions, concerts and official ceremonies and is home for the Bob Hope Center for the Performing Arts. It has dining facilities where dinners and receptions are held. It also serves as an alternate location for Naval Academy graduation ceremonies when Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium cannot be used due to bad weather.^[13]

Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. The Banneker-Douglass Museum, formerly known as Mt. Moriah African Methodist Episcopal Church, is a historic church at Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It was constructed in 1875 and remodeled in 1896. It is a 2+1⁄2-story, gable-front brick church executed in the Gothic Revival style. It served as the meeting hall for the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, originally formed in the 1790s, for nearly 100 years. It was leased to the Maryland Commission on African-American History and Culture, becoming the state's official museum for African-American history and culture. In 1984, a 2+1⁄2-story addition was added when the building opened as the Banneker-Douglass Museum.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and is within the boundaries of the Colonial Annapolis Historic District. Steven Newsome is the former director of the museum.

The Banneker-Douglass Museum is a museum dedicated to preserving Maryland's African American heritage. Located at 84 Franklin Street, Annapolis, Maryland, the museum is housed in the old Mount Moriah A.M.E. Church. The museum is named for Benjamin Banneker and Frederick Douglass.

The contributions of famous African American Maryland residents are highlighted, including Kunta Kinte, Benjamin Banneker, James Pennington, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Matthew Henson and Thurgood Marshall. Other exhibits include black life in Maryland, and African and African American art. Lectures, workshops, performances and educational programs are offered each year.

The facility serves as the state's official repository of African American material culture. The museum also has a library and archives.^[16]

Vessel. The Stanley Norman is a Chesapeake Bay skipjack, built in 1902 by Otis Lloyd, Salisbury, Maryland. She is a 48-foot-3-inch-long in Length overall with length on deck OF 47.5-foot-long two-sail bateau, or "V"-bottomed deadrise type of centerboard sloop. She has a beam of 16 feet, a depth of 4 feet at the stern with the centerboard up, and a registered tonnage of 7 tons.

Stanley Norman is one of the 35 surviving traditional Chesapeake Bay skipjacks and was a member of the last commercial sailing fleet in the United States. The vessel was extensively rebuilt, renovated and the process documented from 1976 ti 1980. In 1990 the vessel was sold to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and is based in Annapolis, Maryland used as a teaching vessel. On December 9, 2003, a fire in the cabin caused some damage, though there was no major damage.

The vessel is based in Annapolis at either Annapolis City Dock near the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre (as pictured) or the Annapolis Maritime Museum and also operates from the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum at St. Michaels, Talbot County, Maryland. The teaching program aboard covers history and present issues of the Chesapeake, including the life of the Bay's waterman, and allows participants to dredge for oysters and conduct water quality tests. The Stanley Norman was retired from the Chesapeake Bay Foundations Fleet in the Summer of 2020.

She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. She is assigned Maryland dredge number 60, and was previously dredge 20.^[18]