Annapolis Historic District and City Dock

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About Annapolis Historic District and City Dock

Annapolis’s downtown has one of the largest collections of 18th-century houses in the United States. The street plan, radiating from two circles—the capitol circle and the Saint Anne’s church circle—was laid out at the end of the 17th century and has been preserved. Brick houses of merchants and colonial-era politicians, such as the William Paca House with its restored garden, are open to visitors.

Main Street descends from the church circle to the City Dock, the small harbor at the end of the bay. The narrow channel alongside the pier is called Ego Alley, because boat owners pass slowly there to be seen. On the pier, a memorial commemorates Kunta Kinte, the character from the book Roots, who is said to have landed there as an enslaved person.

Annapolis bills itself as the sailing capital of the United States. From the City Dock you can take boat trips in the harbor and across Chesapeake Bay, sailboat cruises, and water taxis to neighboring neighborhoods.

In the late afternoon, the pier and surrounding streets fill with people at the seafood restaurants, where blue crab from the bay is the regional specialty.