Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Maryland's State House the oldest state capitol still in continuous legislative use

The Maryland State House is located in Annapolis, Maryland and is the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, dating to 1772 and built in the Georgian style. It houses the Maryland General Assembly. The capitol has the distinction of being topped by the largest wooden dome built without nails in the nation.

Construction began in 1772 on the Maryland State House and was not completed until 1779 due to the ongoing American Revolutionary War. The statehouse was designed by Joseph Horatio Anderson, who was a noted architect of the time. The two-story building is of brick construction in the middle of State Circle. The building is designed in the popular Georgian style of the day. A small portico juts out from the center of the building and is topped by a pediment, two high arched windows frame the entrance. On both floors, large rectangular windows line the facade. A cornice is topped by another pediment and the sloping roof gives way for a central octagonal drum atop which rests a dome. The large dome is topped by a balustrade balcony, another octagonal drum and a lantern capped by a lightning rod. The rod was constructed and grounded according to the direct specifications of its inventor, Benjamin Franklin. The dome of the statehouse is depicted on the Maryland state quarter.

To the right of the entrance is the old Senate Chamber. Chairs and desks were added to the room in the exact number (16) as originally furbished. The desk for the president is an original piece made by John Shaw in 1797.


It was in the Old Senate Chamber that George Washington famously resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783. A mannequin of George Washington stands in period clothing at the head of the room.From November 26, 1783 to August 13, 1784, Annapolis served as the United States capital. The Congress of the Confederation met in the Maryland State House. Subsequently, Annapolis was a candidate to become the new permanent national capital before Washington, D.C. was built.

The United States District Court for the District of Maryland met there for the first decade of its existence. In 1800, judge Samuel Chase tried a local postmaster for embezzlement and sentenced him to thirty-nine lashes. In order to carry out the sentence, the defendant was tied to one of the statehouse columns.

MARYLAND STATE HOUSE, attributed to Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), 1789


This engraving, attributed to Charles Willson Peale, was published in the February 1789 issue of the Columbian Magazine. In addition to the new State House with its recently completed dome, on the far left is the home of John Shaw. To the right of the State House are the Old Council Chamber and Ball Room built in 1718, the octagonal outdoor privy, known as the "temple," constructed in the 1780s and the Treasury Building built in 1729.


The main hall of the State House before construction of the 1902-1906 addition, and after the ill-fated renovations of the 1860s (note the falling plaster under the right staircase).



The 18th century wood and plaster dome in the Georgian style


18th century Georgian Corinthian columns


The capitol has the distinction of being topped by the largest wooden dome built without nails in the nation.


Ornate detail of the 18th century wood and plaster dome in the Georgian style




Large Corinthian columns support the arches bracing the large dome above. A balustrade lines the second floor balcony.


The capitol has the distinction of being topped by the largest wooden dome built without nails in the nation.


Large Corinthian columns support the arches bracing the large dome above. A balustrade lines the second floor balcony. Note men in black


Large Corinthian columns support the arches bracing the large dome above. A balustrade lines the second floor balcony.


Large Corinthian columns support the arches bracing the large dome above. A balustrade lines the second floor balcony.


 The Old Senate Chamber that George Washington famously resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783.


 The Charles Willson Peale portrait of Washington


 The Old Senate Chamber that George Washington famously resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783.


Detail of carved wood and plaster work in The Old Senate Chamber


Detail of carved wood and plaster work in The Old Senate Chamber


It was in the Old Senate Chamber that George Washington famously resigned his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783. A mannequin of George Washington stands in period clothing at the head of the room.


John Shaw (1745-1829), the noted Annapolis cabinetmaker, more than any single person was responsible for the appearance of the exterior and interior of the State House from the 1770s to the early of the nineteenth century. He cared for the grounds, illuminated the State House for festive occasions, supplied furnishings, made emergency repairs, and undertook normal maintenance. There was very little he and the people he hired didn't do. When Joseph Clark, the contractor for the dome, needed a carpenter for the shell, Shaw was hired. When Clark left the project, John Shaw took charge of overseeing the interior plasterwork.




John Shaw, or craftsmen he trained including Washington and William Tuck, made most of the earliest furniture for the Senate and House of Delegates' Chambers, although in November 1783 no one in Annapolis had enough time to make sufficient chairs for Congress. Six dozen "Windsor chairs" had to be rush-ordered from Baltimore.



In 1797, the Senate paid John Shaw to make individual desks for its members, but by 1807, the House also contracted with him for "the fitting up and repairing the House of Delegates Room" with the room to be "laid off in circular form, and . . . the [new] desks to be raised one above the other, as nearly like the room occupied by Congress as may be practicable." The desks Shaw provided remained in the State House until about 1835, when they were given to Baltimore cabinetmaker John Needles as partial payment for new furnishings.



His many years as the first superintendent of buildings and grounds did not make John Shaw a wealthy man. When he died in 1829, at the age of 84, he was highly esteemed but not rich. The Maryland Gazette described him as "not only one of the oldest and [most] respectable inhabitants of this city . . . but also] one of the most useful of them. He was gifted by nature with strength, as well as fortitude of mind, and possessed a degree of self-control which [he] rarely permitted . . . to be disturbed. Thus happily constituted, he pursued his way-content. His whole conduct remained free from reproach and he descended into the grave in peace with the human family.[having lived] a life characterized by industry, temperance, strict integrity, and punctual attention to religious duty.."


President's Desk

Probably made by William Tuck (c. 1774-1813) in the shop of John Shaw
Date: 1797
Medium: Mahogany, mahogany veneer, and dark and lightwood inlay with tulip poplar


President's Armchair


Attributed to the shop of John Shaw
Date: c. 1797
Medium: Mahogany and dark and lightwood inlays with tulip poplar and white oak


Desk


Attributed to the shop of John Shaw
Date: c. 1797
Medium: Mahogany, mahogany veneer, and dark and lightwood inlay with tulip poplar and yellow pine


Armchair


Attributed to the shop of John Shaw
Date: c. 1797
Medium: Mahogany with dark and lightwood inlay with tulip poplar


The Senate chamber is located in a wing added to the original structure between 1902 and 1905. The room is illuminated by a Tiffany-style skylight above. Red carpet emlazoned with the state seal covers the entire floor. Large Ionic columns line the walls as well as supports the viewing gallery. The marble lining the walls and the columns are flecked with rust and black colors, Maryland's official colors.




Two statues flank the podium and are two famous Marylanders. The one is John Hanson, the first president under the Articles of Confederation, the other is Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Four portraits of the Declaration of Independence signatories for Maryland hang from the walls: William Paca, Thomas Stone, Samuel Chase, and Charles Carroll.








The House of Delegates working chamber is also in the new wing to the building. The carpet is a navy blue and designed with a diamond and olive sheaths. The same rust and black marble lines the chamber and forms the Ionic columns lining the walls. A spectators gallery rises above the rostrum. The speaker sits in front of a broken marble pediment supporting a clock. Portraits of former Speakers of the House hang from the walls.

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