STATE HOUSE TRUST

Ex officio: Bill Ferguson, Senate President; Adrienne A. Jones, House Speaker; Laura Davis Mears, Chair, Board of Trustees, Maryland Historical Trust.

Nonvoting associates: Matthew P. Lalumia, Esq.; Robert R. Neall.

Architectural consultant: Maryland Historical Trust

Secretary: Elaine Rice Bachmann, State Archivist

State House entrance, Annapolis, Maryland, June 2010. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

c/o State Archives, 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 260-6400
e-mail: elaine.bachmann@maryland.gov
web: www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdstatehouse/html/home.html

The Maryland State House in Annapolis is the oldest state house in the country still in legislative use.

It was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960.

State House (from Francis St.), Annapolis, Maryland, May 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

Daily, the State House is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except Christmas and New Year's Day.

State House (from College Ave.), Annapolis, Maryland, April 2007. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

From November 26, 1783 to June 3, 1784, when Annapolis served as capital to the newly forming American nation, the Continental Congress met in Annapolis, and consequently important events took place at the State House.

Here, George Washington resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783. Here, too, the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War, was ratified by Congress on January 14, 1784.

State House interior dome, Annapolis, Maryland, January 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

The State House is administered by the State House Trust. The Trust was created by the General Assembly in 1969 to oversee the area inside State Circle in Annapolis, including the State House (Chapter 199, Acts of 1969). This oversight extends to the use of buildings and grounds and any exhibits on display. The Trust supervises all improvements, alterations, additions, landscaping, and repairs within the area.

The Trust consists of four ex officio members (or their designees) who serve as trustees. Members of the Trust may appoint from one to three nonvoting associate members who are qualified by experience and interest in historical preservation. The Trust retains an architect as a consultant (Code State Government Article, secs. 9-501 through 9-506).

State House, Annapolis, Maryland, February 2014. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

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