Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-04-19
IN OLD ANNAPOLIS.
MR.. D. r. RANDALL TALKS OF
SECOND CAPITAL.
Growth OF The City, Transported Pa.
triOts. The Augustaa Period, Early
Brick Construction. Etc.
ITS ARCHITECTURAL DEvEL,
MENT MOVEMENT.

THE Scot is a clannlsh man, and
to this may Zoe ascribed the growth of
social club life. The ancient and
honorable South River Club, whose
present book of proceedings harks
back TO the merry days of 1882, claims
with some justice 10 be the oldest
club in North Ameri "a, with an un-
broken record of l75 years.
I'm Annapolis proper the Red House
Club. the Tuesday Club and later the
Hominy Club held full sway from
l740 until the close of the century,
when mems minds seemed To react
from the happy e-Revolutionary
days and assumed dull and care
worn condition.
''But the Scot must have his club,
and so it was that Annapolis became
center of social life for men that
readily found expression among the
fair sex. The annals of the Tuesday
Club, carefully compiled about 100
by DR.. Alexander Hamilton, who
later became the first president of the
first medical society of the State, are
full of references TO the social life of
the provincial capital. He tells of the
dinners served on the lawns of Colo
NAL houses, where liveried blacks
the wines and luxuries that Chesa-
peake bay offered, followed later by
dances az the State House. Benjamin
Franklin honored their meetings, and
other patriots Joined in the simple OBJ
servances of the kings birthday or
that of the Lord Proprietors.
ssThe period from 1850 TO the outbreak
of the Revolution was the Augustan
Il .ft -. a. cfn w h
in that period the best examples Of
Gregorian architecture found in this
country were built upon its streets.
Not of English brick, as is often said,
but of good Maryland brick, baked
and burned upon the shores of the
Severn river. Long lanes led from
the doors to the streets, along which
the box hedge was planted, with we'll
planted gardens OF the sweet old-time
flowers, now a fad again among
flower lovers.
THE scanty records of the earliest
settlement indicate that the houses
were of logs hewn for the purpose.
A timbered meeting house we know
they had, and the dwellings of the
worshippers could hardly have been
better. In later years, when frivolity
was excessive and religion "a back
number, a local poet sang of the sec
ond capital and st. Anne's Church:
Here in Annapolis alone
God has the meanest house in town.
sat the time when the seat of the
government was removed from St.
Mary's and the city was being
planned in an ambitious way, brick
first came into use, but even then
not generally. The. State House was
of brick, and SO was st. Anne's
Church, and upon the State House
Hill was samll brick house used
for Office and strong room of the col
lectors of revenue, the only public
building of this early period now re-
naming.
About TAO appeared the first exam
pie Of the more pretentious mansion,
with its wings on either side, con-
nected by corridors to the main build
ing. The drawing-room invariably APP
pears on the right, the dining-room on
the left, and so to the left wing was
dedicated TO the kitchen, with sleeping
apartments above for the household
servants.
1.-The early types of the Colonial
mansion were severely simple in fin
ish and devoid of carvings and silver
trimmings, which a more luxurious
age, influenced by French ideas,
brought into fashion. To this period
belong the Ogle, the Bordley and Bla
den houses the latter now known al
| Mcdowell Hall at st. Johns College.
THE period of greatest luxury anC
| architectural establishment came
| about 1850, and to this belong th'
| Chase, the Lockerman and the Brio
houses, considered in many respect
the finest examples of Gregorian con
structfon in the country. Pine. door
gave way TO mahogany, and theii
brass knobs and hinges appear in sill
yer form. The simple types Of doc
trim and cbairboards, mantels, stat
balusters and shutters disappear an
| carved work takes its place Will
stucco decorations upon cornice AM
ceiling ape the glories of the Louvre.
''Some mean man has said that tn
city was planned after dark by cit
izen who had not full possession of hi
faculties, but in spite of this stu
General Washington, a frequent visito
to the town, adopted its plan of cart
wheel radiation as the best for the na
tons capital upon the Potomac, an
no one has dared to assail his goo