Chronology: The Annapolis State House
1826-1850


1826
1831
1836
1841
1846
1827
1832
1837
1842
1847
1828
1833
1838
1843
1848
1829
1834
1839
1844
1849
1830
1835
1840
1845
 1850
IMAGES

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1826
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1826 Session.
    • DATE UNKNOWN - Committee ordered to inquire into expediency of making arrangements to heat the apartments in the state house in some manner more safe and comfortable than the mode use now.  (272) 
    • DATE UNKNOWN - Report on roof conditions and need to replace the roof.  (440-1) 
    • DATE UNKNOWN - Bill sent to Senate.  (459) 
  • A walk was paved of stone or brick from the Governor's House to the State House.   (Radoff, the State House at Annapolis, 34)
     
  • Old Methodist Meeting House on State Circle, built circa 1788 on the former site of the old market house and used for a few years as a print shop, was torn down after passage of Resolution 26 from the 1825 General Assembly session.  (Radoff, Buildings of the State of Maryland, 112)

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1827
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1827 Session.
    • 25 January 1828 - Report from Washington G. Tuck re: covering State House roof.  (142)
    • Date Unknown - House votes to pay Washington G. Tuck for covering the roof.  (214-5)
    • Date Unknown - Committee reports $1,389.98 to be paid for covering the State House.  (246)
    • 8 February 1828 - Resolution re: payment for W.G. Tuck sent to Senate.  (248)
    • 11 February 1828 - Senate endorces and assents to the bill.  (264)
 

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1828
 

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1829
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1829 Session.
    • 1 February 1830 - Committee on Ways and Means instructed to inquire into expediency of having a chimney constructed in the east end of the House Chamber for comfort and accomodation of the members.  (290) 
  • "Did Maryland Pinch Her Dome Designer?" by Roxana White (date and source unknown). Newspaper article stating "a paper found among the effects of the late Dr. Gordon Claude, by his son, William Tell Claude indicates that part of the debt to Joseph Clark, the designer, is still outstanding." Found paper dated January 19, 1829.  (MSA SC 1456-1010 / 0-10-7-70)

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1830


1831
 

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1832
  • Proceedings of the Senate, 1832 Session.
    • 28 February 1833 - Committee on finance reports favorably to the resolution relative to the roof of the State House.  Bill assented to and returned to the house of delegates.  (202) 

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1833
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1833 Session.
    • 4 March 1834 - Report from committee to examine public properties in Annapolis.  Building adjacent to State House is is a ruinous condition and needing immediate repair.  Wall around Public Circle is in such bad order, that suitable and prompt measures should be adopted.  Bill ordered to lie on the table.  (428) 
    • 7 March 1834 - Governor and Council authorized and requested to cause the out houses on the hill, and the wall around the Public Circle to to be repaired and some suitable covering placed thereon.  (494) 
  • "The General Assembly passed the following resolution: 'Resolved, That the Governor and Council be, and they are hereby authorized and requested to cause the outhouses on the hill and the wall around the Public Circle to be repaired and some suitable covering placed thereon.' At this time a shingle roof, or copeing was built on the top of this brick wall which was torn down three years later." "The Old State House[...]" The Baltimore Sun, 1907  (MSA SC 2852).
 

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1834
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1834 Session.
    • 19 March 1835 - Resolution submitted re: repairs to buildings on State Circle, surrounding walls and grounds, and rendering the buildings fire-proof.  Ordered to lie on the table.  (565) 
    • 21 March 1835 - Resolution amended and assented, sent to Senate (608), and engrossed.  (617) 
  • Laws of Maryland, 1834 Session.  (Archives of Maryland, Volume 210)
    • Resolution No. 85 - authorizing the Governor and Council to contract for the building of a small gunhouse.  (Archives of Maryland, Vol. 210, p. 482)  
      • This building, a small two story frame structure, was erected just at the head of Maryland avenue between the present [1907] Circle and the old wall, shown in the print, which barely encircled the Old Treasury"  "The Old State House[...]" The Baltimore Sun, 1907)  (MSA SC 2852)
 

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1835
  • Proceedings of the Senate, 1835 Session.
    • 18 January 1836 - Senate proposes the appointment of a joint committee to look into the expediency of providing fire-proof offices for records and papers of the Court of the Chancery and Court of Appeals and the Executive Department.  (45) 
    • 4 April 1836 - Resolution relative to the repairs of the public circle referred to the committee on finance.  (373) 
    • Report of the Joint Committee upon Fire Proof Offices.  Committee ascertains that several fire proof offices can "conveniently and very effectually be constructed within the State House.  (1-7) 
  • Notes by Dr. E.C. Papenfuse, State Archivist: "It was not until 1835 that funds were expended to enclose the grounds with an iron fence although resolutions authorizing the work were passed by the General Assembly in 1833 and again in 1834.  Jeremiah Hughes, Dennis Claude, and George Wells were commissioned to oversee the work.  The work may well have encompassed completing the wall at this time as well.  Governor Veazey's new message of December 20, 1836 refers to the completion of the new stone wall and iron railing.  Grading had not [been] completed and Veazey suggested there was a need for an additional appropriation to complete the work.  Gates at three entrances were provided in 1837.  One of the entrances was at Francis Street.  The others most likely were at Chancery Lane to the southwest and at the head of East Street."(MSA S 1259-121-1706)
  • 13 January 1835 - Article about Joseph Clark, architect of the State House dome, ice skating from Baltimore to Annapolis in 1784. (Probable source - Maryland Republican)

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  • 20 December, 1835 - Message by Governor Veazey; "The repairs of the public grounds around the State house have not yet been entirely completed. The new stone wall and iron railing appear to be executed in a substantial and workmanlike? manner, and with the exception of the gates to be placed at the three entrances to the circle, those portion of the work may be said to be completed.  There are some trifling improvements which remain to be done on the interior of the circle, such as removing rubbish and grading the grounds, ?? which objects we think a small additional appropriation should be directed.  After these repairs and improvements shall have been thoroughly consummated, it will be with you to decide upon the expediency in appointing a suitable person, with a small salary, to take care of the public grounds and other state property, and to keep them in suitable order." (printed in unknown newspaper MSA S 1259-121-1706
 

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1836
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1836 Session.
    • 4 January 1837  - Proposal to appoint joint committee to enquire re: cost and expediency of warming the Senate Chamber, hall of House of Delegates and offices attached to them, and all other apartments of the State House occupied and used for public purposes; heated air will reduce the annual cost to the State.  (55) 
    • 9 January 1837 - Committee on claims assigned to enquire into the expediency of causing lamps to be placed in front of State House and at each of the entries.  (79) 
    • 11 January 1837 - Joint committee appointed to examine the condition of State House and other public buildings and determine need for preservation, repairs or alterations.  (95) 
    • 3 March 1837 - Report from committee.  (475-478) 
    • 20 March 1837 - House assents resolutions from Committee and sends to Senate.  (703-4) 
  • Proceedings of the Senate, 1836 Session.
    • Resolution authorising Dr. Dennus Claude, George G. Brewer and David Ridgely, to cause to be constructed under the Hall of the House of Delegates, a furnace for warming said Hall by means of heated air, &c.  (3) 
    • 4 January 1837 - House proposes the appointment of a joint committee to enqiure into the expediency of warming the Senate Chamber, the Hall of the House of Delegates, and the offices attached to them respectively, the Council Chamber, and all other apartments of the State House occupied and used for public purposes, or any one or more of them, by means of heated air, introduced by flues, or by any other mode which shall promote the comfort of the members of the Legislature.  (46) 
    • 20 January 1837 - Senate agrees to appoint three members to the joint committee.  (92) 
    • 20 March 1837 - Resolution authorizing the house of delegates to be heated by a furnace referred to Committee on Finance.  (319)  Bill assented and returned to the House.  (322) 
  • "Gov. Thomas W. Veazey in his message to the Legislature December 28, 1836 says, 'The new stone wall and iron railing appear to be executed in a substantial manner' . . . [t]he granite wall surmounted by the iron fence stood for 45 years [until] 1881 . . . [and the] contractor who furnished and put up the iron fence and gates in 1836 was Vachel Seyler" ("The Old State House[...]" The Baltimore Sun, 1907)  (MSA SC 2852)

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  • Entrance to State House 'extensively graded, a curbing with an iron fence erected, and three gates gates provided for acess to the site'. (MSA S 1259-121-1706-863)
 

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1837
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1837 Session.
    • 2 January 1838 - Ordered that Special Committee on Public Buildings enquire into the expediency of causing one or more chandeliers to be provided for use of this house.  Ordered that the Committee on Public Buildings enquire into the expediency of causing a doorway to be cut from the committee room of this house leading to the outer hall.  (40) 
    • 11 January 1838- Discussion re: previous repairs by W. Tuck and Richard W. Gill.  Lists work done, new work suggested, ask that a person be appointed to be in charge of the State House and its upkeep.  (76-7)  Reports from committees are available in pamphlets H and I.  (81)  (We need these pamphlets.) 
    • 27 February 1838 - General Assembly appropriates unnamed funds for repairing, painting and furnishing the Senate Chamber, the Executive Chamber, for repairing and white washing the State Library and the Centre Hall, for repairing and painting the exterior of the State House, for preparing a suitable place under the State House to store wood and coal for the use of the public offices, for grading, paving and improving the grounds within State Circle, and also lamps and and additional pump to be placed in the same.  Bill to lie on the table (304-5) 
    • 3 March 1838 - Committee on Public Buildings ordered to enquire into the present condition of the furnaces and kind of fuel used in warming the hall of the House of Delegates, Library and Committee Rooms.  (334) 
    • 10 March 1838 - Treasurer of Western Shore presents communication with work done over the last 12 years for furnishing public buildings and Public Circle.  (394) 
  • July 1837 - Richard McGill and W.G. Tuck were given the contract to lay a new pavement at the South End of the State House. Apparently this pavement joined with the flagging in front of the gate and so for the first time one could go from Government House to the State House dry shod."  (Radoff, the State House at Annapolis, 34.)

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  • Acorn on the State House dome was gilded on top and painted dark red on bottom, middle and pedestal were covered with lead, and it was signed and dated by its installers, T. Bennett and P.J. Herold.  ("The Story of the State House and Its Dome")

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  • "The final improvement appears to have been the installation of flagging from the entrance at Francis Street to the portico.  This contract was let in July of 1837 and may have replaced a gravel path referred to in the work done in 1818" (Notes by Dr. E.C. Papenfuse, State Archivist., MSA S 1259-121-1706)

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  • Gates and locks installed to prevent stock from wandering about the grounds.  (MSA S 1259-121-1706-865)

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1838
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1838 Session.
    • 16 February 1839 - Committee on Public Buildings ordered to contract for the paving of the front walk leading from the State House to the front gate.  (257) 
    • 26 February 1839 - Keeper of public circle asked not to lock East Gate around said circle.  (325) 
    • 7 March 1839 - Committee of 3 appointed to examine into the expediency of constructing fire-proof offices in the State House for security of judicial and other records.  (399) 
 

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1839
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1839 Session.
    • 20 March 1840 - House considers the resolution requiring the chief clerk of the House to furnish a carpet for the House due to the poor condition of the current carpet.  (623)  Senate returns bill.  (640)
 

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1840
  • Resolutions from the Laws of Maryland, 1840 Session.
    • "Resolved by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the State will accept the piece of ordnance presented by the Reverend Joseph Carberry, and that his Excellency the Governor, be requested to communicate this resolution to him, and cause the same to be transported to the seat of government and placed at some suitable place within the entrance hall of the State House, and to draw on the treasury for such amount as may be necessary to defray the expenses thereof." (Resolution 16 from the 1840 Laws of Maryland, 21
      • The cannon was lifted from the St. Mary's River by Captain Thomas Carberry in 1824.  (Radoff, The State House, 38)
      • The dates on the bronze plaque are not the same as those in the Resolution.  (Radoff, 38)
 

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1841
  • "The hill on which stands this noble edifice [the State House] is inclosed by a neat and substantial granite wall, surmounted by a handsome iron railing which is entered by three gates, one situated at the head of Francis street, the second to the southwest and the third to the northwest of the circle.    The main entrance to the building is through a portico of but modest pretensions . . ." (qtd. in "The Old State House[...]" The Baltimore Sun, 1907)  (MSA SC 2852)
  • Dimensions of the State House after original construction in 1795.  From David Ridgely, Annals of Annapolis, 1841, 146-7. (MSA SC 232)
 

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1842
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1843
  • Proceedings of the Senate, 1843 Session.
    • 7 March 1844 - Resolution in relation to the furnace under the Library is referred to the Committee on the Library.  (147)  Resolution assented to on 9 March, and sent to the house of delegates.  (174) 
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1844
  • Proceedings of the Senate, 1844 Session.
    • 6 March 1845 - Senate returns resolution providing for the payment due for furniture and repairs to the senate chamber, and asks that $40.14 be appropriated to the clerk for the execution of the order of the Senate.  (157) 
    • 10 March 1845 - Resolution in payment for furnishing the Senate Chamber assented and returned to the House of Delegates.  (202) 

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1845
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1845 Session.
    • 20 February 1846 - Committee of 3 appointed to enquire into causes of ignition of the fuel or coal on 19 February 1846 in the basement of the State House.  Ordered that Treasurer, Clerk of Court of Appeals and David S. Caldwell of Annapolis be empowered to have necessary repairs and improvements to State House for its preservation of decay and secure it against fire...thus purchase a fire engine.  (293)  Bill sent to Senate 28 Feb.  (367) 
    • 21 February 1846 - Report from Committee re: deplorable conditions of interior and exterior of State House, need for repairs.  (306-308) 
    • 24 February 1846 - Proposal from James Johnson to render the State House fireproof.  Select Committee appointed.  (316) 
    • 25 February 1846 - Report from Committee of 3 appointed to enquire about fire on 20 February 1846, and repairs done in connection with the fire.  (332-333) 
    • 4 March - Bill regarding public buildings is engrossed.  (396)
 

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1846
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1846 Session.
    • 1 January 1847 - Committee appointed to ascertain what further repairs are needed and what appropriation of money may be required to preserve this building from the ravages of time.  (27) 
    • 10 March 1847 - House approves Senate resolution in favor of proposals for painting State House.  (536) 
  • Proceedings of the Senate, 1846 Session.
    • 10 March 1847 - Resolution for the painting of the dome of the State House is referred to the Committee on Finance.  (212) 
    • 10 March 1847 - Senate approves resolution for repairing the State House, and returns it to the House.  (221) 

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1847
  • Proceedings of the House of Delegates, 1847 Session.
    • 9 March 1848 - Committee appointed, and has power to have erected a suitable building to the rear of State House, having a private entrance thereto, to contain an apartment for fuel and the State's Fire Engine.  Ordered to lie on the table. 
    • 9 March 1848 - State Librarian authorized to contract with someone to repair the roof.  (476-7)  Approved and sent to Senate on 10 March.  (489)  Passed by Senate 10 March.  (503) 
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1848
 

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1849
  • Proceedings of the Senate, 1849 Session.
    • 9 March 1850 - Reolutions for the repair of the Treasury Office, and to the Public Buildings assented to and returned to the House.  (264)  Also, Messenger, Door-Keeper, and Clerk of the Senate put in charge of repairs to be made as shall be proper for the preservation of furniture, and putting the said furniture and chamber in condition for the accomodation of the Senate.  (273) 
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1850

  

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Images: 1826 - 1850


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1836-1872
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