4 MARYLAND INTRODUCTION Maryland is sometimes called America in Miniature a nickname reflecting both its small size and its great diversity At only 10,455 square miles Maryland is the ninth smallest state But within it one can find a great variety of landscapes and lifestyles The nickname is also deserved because of Maryland’s vital role in the history of the United States In 1814 while watching the British attack Baltimore’s Fort McHenry Francis Scott Key penned a poem called The Star-Spangled Banner which later became the country’s official national anthem Baltimore Maryland’s largest city has one of the busiest ports in the country This leading industrial center lies at the head of the Patapsco River estuary 15 miles above Chesapeake Bay which divides the state into two regions the Eastern Shore and Western Shore Baltimore is a popular tourist destination and contains many historic sites The Star-Spangled Banner the U S national anthem was written during a battle in Maryland during the War of 1812 and was inspired by the American flag The Potomac River runs along Maryland’s southwestern border Maryland was named for Britain’s Queen Henrietta Maria wife of King Charles I The U S Congress made The Star-Spangled Banner the official national anthem in 1931 It was written in September 1814 Maryland’s state flag honors two families that were important in the early history of the state the Calverts and the Crosslands The black and yellow design on the flag represents the Calvert family crest and the red and white shield represents the Crossland family crest
INTRODUCTION 5 Maryland is located on the Atlantic coast and is part of an area of the United States often called the Middle Atlantic region Maryland is bordered to the north by Pennsylvania to the east by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean and to the west by West Virginia To the south the Potomac River helps separate Maryland from West Virginia and Virginia On the Maryland side of the Potomac and surrounded by Maryland on three sides is the District of Columbia Washington D C Access to Maryland is made easy by the roughly 30,000 miles of highways that cross the state Interstate 95 I-95 connects the state to Washington D C in the south and to Philadelphia in the north The state’s biggest airport the Baltimore-Washington International Airport also serves Washington D C and provides service to most domestic and many foreign destinations For a scenic voyage to Virginia travelers can board White’s Ferry This ferry is the last operating ferry crossing the Potomac River It connects Montgomery County in Maryland to Loudoun County in Virginia Baltimore-Washington International Airport serves about 20 million commercial passengers each year Most transportation routes in Maryland run through Baltimore Maryland is also served by two airports in northern Virginia Both Dulles and Reagan Washington National airports provide passenger and freight access to the state The Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened in 1952 The 4 3-mile bridge links Maryland’s Eastern and Western shores easing transportation between the two sides of the state The country’s first federal highway the Cumberland Road ran from Cumberland Md to Vandalia Ill It was built between 1811 and 1837 0 0 Maryland Location Map Capital Annapolis Interstate highways 20 40 32 64 Km Mi Scale Population 5,296,486 Size 10,455 square miles Highest peak Backbone Mountain 3,360 feet
6 MARYLAND Maryland played an important role in many of the early wars that helped define the United States During the American Revolution 400 of the state’s soldiers remembered as the Maryland 400 or the Maryland Line fought off 10,000 British soldiers saving George Washington’s army in New York and helping turn the tide of the war Washington heavily praised this group of Marylanders helping the state earn its official nickname the Old Line State Marylanders fought hard to achieve independence for themselves and for the United States On April 28 1788 Maryland achieved statehood becoming the seventh of the original 13 colonies to join the Union Its citizens welcomed this new freedom and the new government In 1790 George Washington as the first U S president chose the District of Columbia land donated by Maryland and neighboring Virginia as the new capital of the United States Maryland the most northerly of the Southern states was largely divided during the American Civil War With Virginia joining the Confederacy the fate of the Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is one of the state’s most popular tourist destinations The area is home to more than 200 shops and restaurants museums and historic sites nation partly hinged on Maryland’s decision to stay in or leave the Union Maryland’s Union loyalties ultimately saved Washington D C from being surrendered to the Confederacy In 1923 Maryland was given the nickname the Free State by Hamilton Owens the editor of the Baltimore Sun newspaper Owens defended Maryland against an attack by a Georgia congressman who criticized the state for failing to ratify the constitutional amendment forbidding the sale and use of alcohol St Mary’s City was the fourth permanent British settlement in North America Maryland is the ninth smallest state in the country It covers 10,455 square miles Maryland is about 250 miles long and 90 miles wide At its narrowest point Maryland is less than 2 miles wide from north to south A person could walk across the state at this point in less than half an hour Maryland’s state motto is Fatti maschii parole femine meaning Strong deeds gentle words St Mary’s City was the first capital of Maryland In 1694 the capital was moved to Annapolis
INTRODUCTION 7 While industry boomed in the 1800s so did the fisheries Chesapeake Bay was filled with fish clams crabs and oysters Millions of bushels of oysters were harvested each year Crisfield was the oyster capital of the state and women were important players in this industry They shucked or removed the oysters from their shells The oyster business became very competitive in the region and oyster wars raged between Maryland and Virginia fishers It became so serious that fishers began to raid each other’s oyster beds Some of these disputes escalated into violent gunfights The harvesting of oysters is still a key element of the state’s economy as Maryland continues to be among the top oyster-producing states in the country In the 20th century Maryland’s population soared from about 1 million in 1900 to more than 5 million in 2000 Fishing and agriculture were supplemented by high technology industries as computers scientific research and aerospace became important sectors of the state’s economy The blue crab was adopted as Maryland’s official state crustacean in 1989 Oyster fishing contributes significantly to Maryland’s economy The state song is Maryland My Maryland The lyrics were written in 1861 in Louisiana by Maryland native James R Randall In 1964 the Chesapeake Bay retriever was adopted as the state dog The breed originated in the state in the early 1800s and is named after Chesapeake Bay This powerful canine was bred to fetch killed or wounded waterfowl In 1942 U S President Franklin D Roosevelt created a presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains Camp David is still used by presidents to meet foreign dignitaries in a relaxed setting and for rest and relaxation
