Existing comment:
Main Street
Planned in the Past
The Nicholson Town Plan
1694
Governor Francis Nicholson
Governor of the Province of Maryland, 1694-1698
Francis Nicholson became governor of the province of Maryland in 1694. He was largely responsible for the relocation of Maryland's capital from St. Mary's City to the more centrally located town on the Severn River that he named Annapolis. In keeping with his interest in the established church, Nicholson designed the new capital with the Anglican Church and the State House as focal points. He also provided for a boys' grammar school.
Annapolis is a remarkable urban environment. Laid out more than 300 years ago, the city evokes a sense of history and a sense of place, expressed in the character of its streets, its relationship to the water around it, and its pleasing human scale. Governor Francis Nicholson's 1695 town plan for Annapolis is the oldest surviving Baroque city plan in the United States. |