Historic Annapolis

Historic Annapolis Incorporated was founded in 1952. Forward looking preservationists, St. Clair Wright among them, wanted the city of Annapolis to adopt a provision for an historic district downtown as part of their first zoning code. This they did not want to do. So, in April 1952 more than 200 preservation-minded citizens gathered and formed Historic Annapolis Incorporated. Visionary preservationists believed that the 18th and 19th century city center could be adapted to modern businesses and lives and did not need to be replaced with new buildings. Because of the long period of economic downturn, the older homes and businesses were still there.

Historic Annapolis Incorporated was the first preservation organization founded with the goal of saving the entire city center, not just an historic building. This continued to be their focus throughout St. Clair Wright’s tenure. The streetscape was the important thing; Historic Annapolis Incorporated did not focus their attention only on the largest grandest buildings. Every building was worthwhile.

They did not have overnight success, but worked with extraordinary determination to convince the property owners and citizens of Annapolis that theirs was not an unattractive outmoded town but a place that could use its many historic resources to make a much more attractive city for its residents and attract visitors also.

Charles Carroll Barrister House

Their first large project, in 1955, was to save from demolition the Charles Carroll the Barrister House by moving it from Main and Conduit Streets to the campus of St. John’s College.

Charles Carroll the Barrister was a leading Maryland Revolutionary Patriot. His father, also Charles Carroll, came from Ireland and built the house in 1723. This branch of the family was Episcopalian but a cousin, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a Catholic, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and became active in politics after the American Revolution. His house, Carrollton, belongs to the Redemptorists and sits on its original site near St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Charles Carroll, Barrister,
member of the Continental Congress, December 1784

In 1964 Historic Annapolis lost a battle to stop the construction of a hotel down on the city dock, originally a Hilton, now the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront Hotel. But they did manage to get two stories taken off the top of the proposed hotel.

And in 1988 Historic Annapolis successfully negotiated with the city to reduce the height of the Gotts Court Parking Garage from 65 feet to 32 feet. With both projects, a simple artist’s technique was used. One picture is worth a thousand words, they say, and St. Clair Wright took a paper cutout of the proposed building, to the same scale as a photograph of the area, and stuck it on the place designated for the new structure. Thus, people could see the new projects would be overwhelming the surrounding buildings before any construction had begun.