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Capital of Maryland · Anne Arundel County · capital since 1694 · 39.0°N 76.5°W
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis has been the capital of Maryland since 1694 and briefly served as the capital of the United States in 1783–84. Its State House is the oldest in continuous legislative use in the country.
Where Annapolis is
Annapolis is the seat of Anne Arundel County, at 38.98°N, 76.49°W, on the south bank of the Severn River where it opens into Chesapeake Bay. The city is a peninsula between the Severn and Spa Creek, with the harbor at City Dock facing the bay. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which carries US 50 to the Eastern Shore, begins about five miles northeast. Baltimore is 30 miles north and Washington, D.C., 30 miles west, so Annapolis is inside the combined metropolitan area of both. The United States Naval Academy has occupied the point at the mouth of the Severn since 1845.
How it became the capital
Maryland's first capital was St. Mary's City, founded in 1634 near the mouth of the Potomac. In 1694 Governor Francis Nicholson moved the government to the more central and Protestant town of Anne Arundel's Towne, renamed Annapolis for Princess Anne. The Continental Congress met in the State House from November 1783 to August 1784: George Washington resigned his commission there on December 23, 1783, and the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolution was ratified there on January 14, 1784.
Population
Annapolis had 40,812 residents in 2020, seventh among Maryland's incorporated cities. Baltimore, the largest, had 585,708. Much of Maryland's population lives in unincorporated suburbs of Baltimore and Washington, such as Columbia and Silver Spring, that are larger than Annapolis but are not cities. Anne Arundel County as a whole has about 588,000 people.
The capitol
The Maryland State House on State Circle was begun in 1772 and occupied by the legislature in 1779, making it the oldest state capitol still in continuous legislative use. Its wooden dome, added by 1794 and built without nails, is the largest of its kind in the country. The building is topped by a lightning rod installed to Benjamin Franklin's specifications. Both houses of the General Assembly meet here for 90 days each year.
Distances to other cities
| City | Direction | Road distance |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore, MD | north | about 30 mi |
| Washington, DC | west | about 30 mi |
| Philadelphia, PA | northeast | about 120 mi |
Annapolis is on Eastern Time.
Related maps
- Maryland map — the whole state with borders, cities and counties.
- Maryland county map · blank Maryland map · printable Maryland map.
- All 50 state capitals on one map, and the state capitals quiz.
- South region · South Atlantic division · Eastern Time Zone.