Annapolis Notes
Annapolis lies between two rivers, the Severn and the South, and its harbor looks out on the Chesapeake Bay. In the area there are numerous creeks, bodies of water as wide and deep as rivers at their mouth, but short in their course. The center of Annapolis looks across Spa Creek at Eastport, once a separate village, but annexed over a hundred years ago. The harbor is the confluence of the Severn River and Spa Creek, as they meet to feed the bay. West Annapolis lies across College Creek, upon whose banks sit St. John's College and the United States Naval Academy. College Creek spills into the Severn, which bounds the
Academy to the north.
Across the Severn lies the Broadneck Peninsula, a very hilly area jutting out into
the bay. As its name implies, it is quite wide, and so it is difficult to get a view of the bay
without traveling back roads, or going the length of it along the highway, which puts one
at the Bay Bridge. To the north, the Magothy River feeds into the bay, and some of the
peninsula's shoreline is on the river. There are also several creeks in Broadneck, upon
which may variously be built restaurants or homes, but almost all of which are dotted
with docks.
Edgewater is across the South River from Annapolis. There are the sort of off-
brand gas stations that one rarely sees outside of rural communities, it has the only
restaurant in the area that specializes in the preparation of game, and it has more than one
barbecue carry- out within a mile stretch of highway. In spite of residential development
that has partially turned it into a bedroom community, it feels like a different world.
Up the South River, perhaps a half a mile, is Riva, which was less of a distinct
community than Edgewater, and has been practically erased with the erection of up- scale
housing on both sides of the river, frequently inhabited by Washington commuters. There
remain decrepit cottages in patches, beside developments with five- bedroom houses
shoe- horned into a third of an acre or less, allowing those of more modest means to
afford impressive houses. Down the road from the main area of settlement is a trailer-
park, and much past that are farms.
Broadneck has itself seen a great deal of development in the last ten or fifteen
years, but the earlier version of the area was somewhat affluent, since there is so much
desirable shoreline. There are mansions in St. Margaret's, down towards the Bay Bridge,
and fine chateaux on hills overlooking the Severn to be found on Pendennis Mount. Much
of the development is pretty solidly middle- class, although there are enough starter
homes, townhouses, and apartments to allow a broader mix, particularly along College
Parkway, named after Anne Arundel Community College.
West Annapolis is largely affluent, with some rather expensive properties towards
the river, and some spacious, if not luxurious, older houses in its center. Eastport, on the
other hand, is a working class area, at least until you approach the water, and has
undergone a gradual urban renewal that has left homesteading yuppies side by side with
poor blacks, at least in some neighborhoods. The general rule is that the closer you get to
the water, the more likely that a neighborhood has been renovated, or razed to provide
room for new construction. Of course, there are also middle class black areas in
Annapolis, and whites have ever so gradually entered those areas in search of bargains, as
housing integration has become more pervasive anyway.
Heading towards the bay in Eastport, one comes upon a couple of mildly
upper-middle class communities with water access, such as Hillsmere, and a small nest of
mansions not far past it, off the main road and behind hedges. More interestingly, one
comes to an upper- middle class black area, right on the bay, with houses either directly
on the water or within a brief walking distance. This was historically a summer refuge for
affluent blacks, before the rise of the ocean resorts and the growth of integration undercut
its drawing power.
Annapolis is about 30 to 45 minutes from downtown Baltimore, and about an
hour from the Mall ( between the Capitol and the Washington monument). Although it
has historically been more oriented to Baltimore, the last twenty years have seen a
considerable influx of Washington commuters, and Annapolis has come to be the most
desirable suburban location east of the District. The nearest commuter train is about a
twenty minute drive, and the Metro has a station about 25 minutes away. If it were not for
the horrible rush hour tangle upon entering the city, most downtown locations could be
reached by car in less than an hour.
Downtown Annapolis is most commonly approached from Highway 50, which
connects it to both Washington and the Eastern Shore. Exiting onto Rowe Boulevard, one
drives past the Naval Academy stadium, the state archives, and a district courthouse, until
reaching a plaza in front of the statehouse, flanked by legislative offices. To the left, and
down a couple of blocks, is St. John's College, a tiny campus most noted for its
dedication to a Great Books program. To the right is Church Circle, in the midst of which
is St. Anne's Church, an Episcopal church of colonial provenance. Various streets radiate
from the circle, one leading to that part of Annapolis which was built up out of small
annexations from the late nineteenth century through the twentieth, such as Germantown,
Admiral Heights, and Parole, others leading to the old Victorian homes that sprang up by
Spa Creek when people still escaped the summer there, and others conveying one to the
dock area. Walking to the docks, whether from the circle or avenues further north, one
frequently sees buildings from the colonial era, or at least from the first half of the 19th
century. Some are quite handsome and well preserved. However, most of the buildings
are considerably younger, and the downtown is a bit of an architectural hodge- podge.
The north side of downtown is bounded by the Naval Academy, and ultimately the
Severn River. The Academy lies behind high walls, but is not difficult to visit during the
day. When entering through the Maryland Avenue gate, the chapel is almost immediately
to your right, the museum to your left. The quadrangle is large, and connects the chapel
and museum to Bancroft Hall, a huge residential hall housing the midshipmen.
Overlooking the river are classroom buildings, and below them are docks. Behind
Bancroft are numerous playing fields, and near them is the fieldhouse. Much of the
Academy reservation is filled with base housing, for example for the Superintendent.
The downtown dock area is designed for considerable tourist traffic, by land and
by sea. Most boats anchor in the harbor, and come ashore by dinghy or water taxi. The
dock looks directly across to the renovated Eastport waterfront, with upscale restaurants
and yuppie condos, complete with marina privileges. Looking to the left, one can see out
to the bay, and on a clear day to the Eastern Shore, since Annapolis is on a narrow portion
of the bay. Sometimes, one can espy an oil tanker chugging up the bay to the port of
Baltimore, though more commonly one sees only a thicket of sailboats, from small sloops
to yachts.
The dock area is an open square, with boutiques, restaurants, and hotels on three
sides. A small building with restrooms and information services sits about half a block
back from the water, and there is considerable parking nearby. About a block and a half
up, there is a market building, with stalls selling sea- food, baguettes, cheese, fruit, and
other comestibles. There is a kind of canal running up about 2 blocks, where one can
expensively dock, and were the tour boats and water taxis rest. There is a traffic circle to
the side of the market house, and it leads to Main Street, which has eliminated all
telephone poles and power lines to enhance its quaintness. The best liquor store in a wide
area sits on the circle, and wine collectors from the surrounding region come to review its
most recent acquisitions. Up the street, there are renovated buildings with mini- malls
selling everything from sun- dresses to Persian rugs. One can eat provincial French,
northern Italian, Japanese, and nouvelle americain within a couple of blocks. There is also
the down- home charm of Chick and Ruth's Delicatessen, housed in a narrow, late 19th
century building, with a counter and waitresses in uniform. As a delicatessen, one has to
remember that most of its clientele is gentile, so pastrami you can get, sometimes lox, but
for sable or whitefish, don't hold your breath.
There are slums here and there, a block or two in length, and there are relatively
cheap apartments over some of the businesses and elsewhere, generally housing students
from St. John's, or the army of kids who supply the waiters and kitchen staffs, the
bellhops and desk clerks, the cashiers and assistant managers, in the restaurants, hotels,
and boutiques populating the downtown area. Nevertheless, the area is mostly affluent,
and even fixer uppers may easily go for over a quarter of a million dollars.
Main Street leads back to Church Circle, though one may veer to a side street and
reach State Circle, which is dominated by the statehouse at its center, with the Governor's
Mansion on its far side. The principal rival to the dock area is State Circle, and the
principal rival to Main Street is Maryland Avenue, which is notable for its numerous
antique shops. Maryland Avenue also possesses a couple of the finest colonial mansions
in town, and is close to the imposing Paca House, with its recreated colonial garden. It
connects State Circle to the Academy, by a distance of about three blocks.
Duke of Gloucester Street runs parallel to Main Street, heading towards the water,
one way. Many beautiful old houses line it, and it is home to the City Hall, the parsonage
for St. Anne's, and the Roman Catholic Church that services Annapolis, a very old parish
run by the Redemptorist order. St. Mary's has its own high school, and built a
mission church on the edge of town to alleviate crowding.
There is a large Greek presence in Annapolis, and the parish of Sts. Constantine
and Helena bought a large peace of property on the edge of town to expand its sanctuary
and construct a Hellenic center, which are now erected and quite lovely. There are enough
Jews in the area to sustain an orthodox synagogue, with its own school, and to support a
small Conservative congregation. In the northern suburb of Arnold, there is a Reform
Temple. There are several predominantly black congregations, particularly a couple of
A.M.E. parishes, and a couple of down- home Baptist churches. There is even a small
Unitarian group, and a Friends Meeting House. Of course, there are numerous examples
of the various Protestant denominations, mostly main- stream, though with some
pentecostalists.
The Naval Academy certainly looms large in town, though less so in the suburbs,
but it is such a self- contained world that it does not dominate the town, either politically
or culturally. In fact, even the state government does not loom as large as one might
expect, partially because the legislature serves part time, and the bureaucracy is not
wholly concentrated in Annapolis, but has a couple of alternative centers. But the main
reason is the political clout of Baltimore, its surrounding county, and the counties of
Montgomery and Prince George's, which draws political activity away from the capital, so
that a fund- raiser or major speech is likely to occur elsewhere..... |
