![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/huangyizhou.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com\/20191207\/aad.jpg\")
<\/a><\/br>Photo with Gov. Larry Hogan’s Family<\/br>This photo was accessed from Governor Larry Hogan’s online photo gallery, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. When this material is used, in whole or in part, proper citation and credit must be attributed to the Executive Office of the Governor.<\/span><\/p><\/div> It’s a crisp winter morning as I made the short half-hour drive from Washington DC (that’s about the same distance to my favorite Asian market)<\/span> to the capitol of Maryland. Just next to Calvert Street Garage was St. John’s College. Founded in 1696, it’s the third-oldest college in US. It’s a Saturday and its campus was tranquil and peaceful.<\/p>\n <\/br> <\/br>Lawn<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Randall Hall<\/p><\/div>\n Just before I left, I paid a brief visit to Mitchell Gallery which was located inside St. John’s College. The two-room museum rotates its exhibitions regularly. But during my visit they were comics in a New York megazine that I wasn’t interested in. So, maybe next time.<\/p>\n Once out of St. John’s College, I was in the heart of Annapolis with historic townhouses in various styles. At first, I planned to visit the nearby US Naval Academy. Unfortunately, I was carrying a backpack, which was among their forbidden items. So, I moved on to the city’s waterfront.<\/p>\n <\/br>Annapolis from Waterfront<\/p><\/div>\n After that, I climbed uphill to the nearby St. Mary’s Church. <\/br>Garden of St. Mary’s Church<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Charles Carroll House Entrance<\/br>House of a Declaration of Independence Signer<\/br><\/p>\n \nBirthplace of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (September 19, 1737 \u2013 November 14, 1832), the only Roman Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence and the last of the signers to die. <\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Spire of St. Mary’s Church<\/p><\/div>\n After that, I got back on the city’s Main Street, and partly for the atmosphere, visited a few shops.<\/p>\n <\/br>Main Street<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Shop<\/p><\/div>\n Next on my list was Banneker-Douglass Museum, the state’s official museum for African-American history and culture. The building was constructed in 1875 as Mt. Moriah African Methodist Episcopal Church, then converted to the current museum in 1984.<\/p>\n From its near-empty visitor logbook, it’s not hard to tell the museum’s (lack of) popularity.<\/p>\n <\/br>Banneker-Douglass Museum Facade<\/p><\/div>\n After a quick lunch, next on my list was Maryland State House, the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use in United States.<\/p>\n <\/br> During my visit only the House chamber was open for public view. Well, the Senate one’s even tinier from online photos.<\/p>\n <\/br>Ceiling of House Chamber<\/p><\/div>\n The current House and Senate chambers were works of 20-Century expansions. In the Revolutionary War Era the delegation was smaller, and so were the rooms, that for some time used to house the United States Congress. Nowadays, the Old Senate Chamber was restored to its appearance of 1780s, where on December 23, 1783, George Washington came before Congress to resign his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.<\/p>\n <\/br> Across the hall from Old Senate Chamber is the Old House of Delegates Chamber, which was restored to its looks in the late 19-th Century. Although most of its desks were removed so that people could roam the room.<\/p>\n <\/br>Old House of Delegates Chamber<\/p><\/div>\n Then it’s the Caucus Room with some exhibitions.<\/p>\n <\/br>Caucus Room<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Silver Set of USS Maryland<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Statue of Baron de Kalb<\/br>A general during America’s Revolutionary War.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br> <\/br>Maryland Inn<\/p><\/div>\n Before I entered Maryland’s State House, I noticed a line forming outside the Governor House across the street. Over lunch I heard it was the governor’s annual open house. <\/br>Line to Enter Government House<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br>Fountain Decorated with Christmas Lights<\/p><\/div>\n Unfortunately no photos were allowed in the Governor’s House, except for the official ones with Governor himself, taken by his staff.
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\nFor parking, the city-owned Calvert Street Garage was free on weekends.<\/p>\nSt. John\u2019s College<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/br>McDowell Hall<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a><\/br>Townhouses<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Marina<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a>
\nWhile a lot of activities were going on in the nearby gym of St. Mary’s High School, I wasn’t able to find the entrance to St. Mary’s Church. So, I took a brief tour of its garden and moved on.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Click for details<\/summary>\n
\n<\/br>Charles Carroll of Annapolis (1702 \u2013 1782), father of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, built the original portion of this house during the 1720s near the home of his own father, Charles Carroll the Settler (1660 \u2013 1720). Charles Carroll of Carrollton lived here with his parents until 1743 when he departed for studies abroad. He returned here in 1765 and married his cousin, Mary Darnall (1749 \u2013 1782) here on June 5, 1768. Charles and \u201cMolly\u201d Carroll used this house as their principal urban residence, and several of their seven children were born \u2013 and died \u2013 here. During the early 1770s Carroll enlarged the original structure and improved the grounds and gardens. In 1773 he launched his political career within these walls by composing his \u201cFirst Citizen\u201d letters that supported the rights of the people of Maryland against Lord Baltimore\u2019s authority. The Carrolls entertained many important guests here, including George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. Outdoor festivities were held here in April 1783 to celebrate the end of the War for Independence. Carroll continued to live here while serving in the Maryland Senate (1777 \u2013 1800) and the United States Senate (1789 \u2013 1792). In 1821 Carroll rented out his mansion and thereafter divided his time between his daughter\u2019s home in Baltimore and his plantation, Doughoregan Manor, in what is now Howard County.
\n<\/br>In 1852 Carroll\u2019s four Caton granddaughters conveyed the house and surrounding land to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorisits) on the condition that the property \u201cbe always consecrated to religion.\u201d The Redemptorists added the west wing to the house in 1856 to provide additional space for their Novitiate.
\n<\/br>CHARLES CARROLL HOUSE NORTH PORCH
\n<\/br>The porch you see before you is a modern reconstruction of this principal entrance to the Carroll House. It was added to the house in the 1770s by Charles Carroll of Carrollton and removed by 1866 when a two-story passage was built between St. Mary\u2019s rectory and the house.
\n<\/br>Concurrent with other work being done at the Carroll House in the early 1770s, Carroll designed a new formal entrance facing Duke of Gloucester Street with a porch complete with stone steps, bases, capitals, columns and pilasters. The \u201cvery Harde\u201d stone for the various elements of the porch was quarried by indentured servants and slaves at Doughoregan Manor. In what can be gleaned from correspondence, initially four stones, each two feet square, were rough cut at the Manor, presumably for the bases. Three steps, recessed behind the front columns, rose from grade level to the porch landing. Over the years, the grade in this area has been dramatically altered and as a result, the stairs leading from the porch to the East side of the house are a modern addition to accommodate the change in grade.
\n<\/br>Additionally, the entrance beneath the porch was created during the time period following the removal of the Carroll porch, most likely between 1866 and 1928.<\/br>From nearby information board.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>Banneker-Douglass Museum<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Church Interior<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>St. Anne’s Parish Exterior<\/p><\/div>\nMaryland State House<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/br>House Chamber<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Old Senate Chamber<\/br>The statue upstairs on the balcony was Molly Ridout, a prominent family whose brother later became Maryland’s governor.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>State House with Christmas Decorations<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a>Maryland Governor Holiday Open House<\/span><\/h3>\n
\nThat turned out to be a once-per-year event for the public to take photos with Maryland’s Governor, enjoy a few cookies along a brief tour of (part of) Governor’s mansion. There were also performances of school music bands from across Maryland. For this I can certainly wipe off the dismay of being turned away at US Naval Academy for my backpack, and consider this my lucky day.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/br>Government House<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a>
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