Historic Maritime Annapolis

When the first English settlers arrived here aboard a ship in 1649, they found a pristine Chesapeake Bay with an abundance of seafood. From their small, hand-built boats, they gathered oysters and caught fish and crabs to feed their growing families, and grew their own crops. They also grew tobacco for trade. In these early days, long before we knew that smoking tobacco can kill people, growing "sotweed" was the way the wealthiest people here made their money.

After the town of Annapolis was founded in 1695, it became an important port for shipping barrels of tobacco to England. Sailing ships returned from across the Atlantic Ocean and up the Bay to Annapolis Harbor with an amazing assortment of goods for sale. Some ships also brought slaves, like the one in 1767 that brought a man from Africa named Kunta Kinte.

After the Revolutionary War, Annapolis Harbor gradually lost most of its shipping business to the growing Port of Baltimore. The large, ocean-sailing ships that once packed Annapolis Harbor were replaced by smaller boats that were used to harvest oysters, crabs and fish on the shallow waters of the Chesapeake.

Oysters were the biggest money-maker in the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Watermen gathered oysters with dredges and long-handled shaft tongs and brought their catch to one of the many oyster packing plants surrounding the harbor. Men and women, and sometimes even children, shucked the oysters and packed them in cans. Canning allowed the oysters to last longer, so they could be shipped by railroads and steamships to as far away as the Rocky Mountains.

Boatwrights and craftsmen worked in boatyards surrounding the local creeks to build and repair boats for the watermen. Many of these were located in the Eastport peninsula, across the harbor from Annapolis proper. Earlier on, the little peninsula was devoted to farms for raising crops and racehorses. After the town was founded in 1868, most of the working residents, both black and white, made their living from the seafood industry, in the boatyards or at the Naval Academy.

During World War II, boats were built in Eastport for the British and Russian navies. Later, the Trumpy family built world-renowned luxury yachts there. As the oyster business ebbed, the watermen's workboats were replaced by sailboats and powerboats used for having fun out on the Bay.

Today, Annapolis is known as " America 's Sailing Capital." Annapolis Yacht Club and Severn Sailing Association support year-round racing by high school and college sailors. Major national and international sailing events take place here, including the Volvo Ocean Race. The fleet of 'round-the-world raceboats will stop here in May 2006.

Tour boats and boat rentals provide opportunities for families to spend a day on the water. Water taxis are fun way to get a boat ride across the Harbor.

Volunteers and staff of the Annapolis Maritime Museum are busy repairing damage caused by Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Located at the site of the former McNasby Oyster Company in Eastport, the Museum's programs, exhibits and activities are centered about the maritime heritage you've learned about here.