Maryland Info
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Capital City:
Annapolis
Economy: Agriculture, manufacturing, government and fishing.
Population: 5,171,634
Time Zone: 5 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (-5 GMT).
Daylight Saving Time is observed from early April-late October.
Maryland's Flag:
The Maryland flag contains the family crest of the Calvert and Crossland
families. Maryland was founded as an English colony in 1634 by Cecil Calvert,
the second Lord Baltimore. The black and Gold designs belong to the Calvert
family. The red and white design belongs to the Crossland family.
History of Maryland:
Maryland was inhabited by Indians as early as circa 10,000 B.C.E. Permanent
Indian villages were established by circa C.E. 1000. In 1608, Capt. John
Smith explored Chesapeake Bay. Charles I granted a royal charter for Maryland
to Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in 1632, and English settlers, many of
whom were Roman Catholic, landed on St. Clement's (now Blakistone) Island
in 1634. Religious freedom, granted all Christians in the Toleration Act
passed by the Maryland assembly in 1649, was ended by a Puritan revolt,
1654–58. From 1763 to 1767, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed
Maryland's northern boundary line with Pennsylvania. In 1791, Maryland ceded
land to form the District of Columbia. In 1814, when the British unsuccessfully
tried to capture Baltimore, the bombardment of Fort McHenry inspired Francis
Scott Key to write the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The Baltimore clipper-ship trade developed during the 19th century. During
the Civil War, Maryland remained a Union state even while the battles of
South Mountain (1862), Antietam (1862), and Monocacy (1864) were fought
on her soil. In 1904, the Great Fire of Baltimore occurred. In 1937, the
City of Greenbelt, a New Deal model community, was chartered. Maryland's
Eastern Shore and Western Shore embrace the Chesapeake Bay, and the many
estuaries and rivers create one of the longest waterfronts of any state.
The Bay produces more seafood—oysters, crabs, clams, fin fish—than
any comparable body of water. Important agricultural products, in order
of cash value, are greenhouse and nursery products, chickens, dairy products,
soybeans, corn, eggs, vegetables, melons, and wheat. Maryland is a leader
in vegetable canning. Stone, coal, sand, gravel, cement, and clay are the
chief mineral products. Manufacturing industries produce food and kindred
products, instruments, chemicals, printing and publishing, transportation
equipment, and primary metals. Baltimore, home of the Johns Hopkins University
and Hospital, ranks as the nation's second port in foreign tonnage. Annapolis,
site of the U.S. Naval Academy, has one of the earliest state houses (1772–79)
still in regular use by a state government. Among the popular attractions
in Maryland are the Fort McHenry National Monument; Harpers Ferry and Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal National Historic Parks; Antietam National Battlefield; National
Aquarium, USS Constellation, and Maryland Science Center at Baltimore's
Inner Harbor; Historic St. Mary's City; Jefferson Patterson Historical Park
and Museum at St. Leonard; U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis; Goddard Space
Flight Center at Greenbelt; Assateague Island National Park Seashore; Ocean
City beach resort; and Catoctin Mountain, Fort Frederick, and Piscataway
parks.
Other Maryland Links:
Maryland Chamber of Commerce
Maryland Department of Education
Maryland Municipal League
Maryland Office of Tourism Development |
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