Around you spreads a street plan Francis Nicholson laid out in 1695. This designated National Historic Landmark District was recognized in 1965 and was geographically expanded in 1984, preserving a core of the city that has shaped Maryland’s capital life. Annapolis itself has served as the capital of both the Colony and the State, and as the county seat of Anne Arundel County, Maryland’s third county.
This is one of the first planned cities in colonial America: the original town plan was developed here in 1695 by Francis Nicholson, and about 120 of the 18th‑century buildings still remain. Together with its neighbor to the south, Williamsburg, these towns are described as a “living microcosm” of the 1700s and early 1800s in the United States. Within this original colonial-era area you can find the Maryland State House on State Circle and St. Ann’s Church, Anglican/Episcopal, on the adjacent Church Circle, among the historic residences that line the streets.
Picture the State House dome, St. Ann's steeple, and some 120 colonial homes still holding their ground.