Anne Arundel County Timeline

1. Origins
   1. 1649 – The first European settlers arrive in what is now called Anne Arundel County.
   2. Cecil Calvert, the second lord Baltimore, is granted ownership of the colony by King Charles I. Calvert is aided by father in–law Thomas Arundel.
   3. Economic status is built around tobacco crops.
   4. The county is named after Cecil Calvert's late wife, Anne Arundell.
   5. 1694 – "Annapolis," named in honor of Queen Mary's daughter Anne, becomes Maryland's capital. It is incorporated as a city in 1708.
2. Revolutionary War
   1. 1772 – Construction begins on the Maryland State House, which hosts the Maryland legislature first the first time seven years later and still remains in active legislative use.
   2. 1783–84 – Annapolis becomes the temporary capital of the United States. The Treaty of Paris, ending the war, is signed here, and George Washington resigns his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House.
   3. 1789 – St. John's College, a non-sectarian private college, opens as the successor of King William's School, which had been founded by an act of the Maryland legislature and opened in 1701.
3. Civil War Era to Late 19^th Century
   1. 1840 – The Annapolis and Elkridge railroad is completed.
   2. 1845 – The U.S. Naval Academy establishes Fort Severn at what is the Academy's current site.
   3. A parole camp, established during the Civil War to accept paroled Union prisoners of war, is set up in Annapolis. As the war continues, the camp is expanded to a larger location just outside the city, in an area still referred to as Parole.
   4. Wounded Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners are brought by sea to a major hospital in Annapolis.
   5. With a lessened reliance on tobacco crops, farmers shift to corn, wheat, hay and fruit for primary income.
   6. 1893 – Major Charles R. Douglass, son of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, establishes Highland Beach as an exclusive resort for African Americans.
4. World War I & II
   1. Increased industrialization.
   2. Fort George Meade is established as a training ground for troops.
   3. Odenton is nicknamed "Boom Town" due to an increased Army presence.
5. Post World War II
   1. Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, considered the most advanced airport facility in the United States, is dedicated as "Friendship International Airport" in 1950 by President Truman.
   2. 1957 – BWI Marshall Airport serves as the East Coast terminus of the record–breaking transcontinental flight by the first Boeing 707 jetliner.
   3. 1958 – Harundale Mall becomes one of the first enclosed shopping malls and possibly the first air-conditioned mall in the country.
   4. Anne Arundel County continues to attract business and new residents because of its central location between Baltimore and Washington, its superior transportation networks and the natural beauty and recreational opportunities found along its 533 miles of shoreline.
   5. The population of Anne Arundel County is projected to grow throughout the 21st century from 485,800 in 2000 to 563,000 in 2030.