Annapolis, the capital of the state of Maryland, has only looked the way it does now for roughly 50 years. Over the years, the small city that was once based on a water-borne economy has been transformed into an urban center based on tourism and state government. What currently exists in the Annapolis Historic District is due to years of historic preservation spearheaded by Historic Annapolis Foundation and the efforts of city government.

 

Main Street Annapolis as it looks today. (Photo courtesy of Matthew David Cochran.)
 
Main Street Annapolis as it looked in the 1930s. (Photo courtesy of the Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.)
Main Street as it looked in the early 20th century. (Photo courtesy of the Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.)
 

Throughout its history, Annapolis as a city has continually rebuilt itself. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries processes of modernization altered the city's historic appearance. (Photo courtesy of the Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.)
The historic setting that is enjoyed by thousands each year is built on  understanding provided by archaeology, the photographic history of many buildings, and the examination of the architecture of the Historic District. When uncovered through archaeology, the many small fragments of material remains left behind tell a remarkable story of past Annapolitans' lives, hopes, and aspirations. These stories are all the more remarkable since some of this information has long been lost or forgotten.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Much of Annapolis' history lays beneath the city streets. (Photo courtesy of Archaeology in Annapolis.)
In recent years, a concerted effort to alter the city's appearance have again been made by burying above ground phone lines in an effort to reclaim the city's historic appearance. (Photo courtesy of Archaeology in Annapolis.) 
 
Archaeology in Annapolis, a cooperative project between the University of Maryland Department of Anthropology and the Historic Annapolis Foundation, has made its goal the uncovering of voices of those who have been left out of popular histories. It is well known that gaps exist in the surviving body of written records. These gaps result in a limited range of materials with which to piece together the past.

 

Archaeology in Annapolis seeks to use archaeological site tours as a means of creating an active discourse about the past with multiple publics. (Photo courtesy of Archaeology in Annapolis.) 
 


One of the unique advantages of doing historical archaeology in general is that we are able to incorporate a wide variety of materials to try to create fuller, more inclusive histories. Annapolis has a thorough history of its political elite and we are contributing to a fuller telling of the range of experiences and lives of Annapolis' residents past and present.

 
 

With these issues in mind we invite you to tour several of our past archaeological excavations offered in this web-based education guide. Click on any of the photos below to join in the rediscovery of several of the less well-known aspects of Annapolis' history.
 
Click here to learn about 19th centruty African American spiritual practices at the Brice House

 

 Brice House
Calvert House
Discover an 18th century orangery at the Calvert House. Click here.
Click here to learn about African and European world views in the 18th century at the Carroll House.
Carroll House
Courthouse Site
 Tour current archaeological excavations of a vibrant 19th and early 20th century African American community at the Courthouse Site.
Learn how one woman changed 18th century Annapolis history at the Green Print Shop. Click here.

 

 Green Print Shop
Maynard-Burgess House
Click here to see how one African American household fought racism in the 19th and early 20th centuries, at the Maynard-Burgess House.
Tour symbolic 18th century baroque lanscapes of power at State Circle.

State Circle