35 Magnificent Facts about Maryland

By James Israelsen, Associate Writer

Published April 20, 2018

The first post office in the United States was created in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1774._[2]
Francis Scott Key wrote the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" after seeing the flag still waving at Fort McHenry in Maryland’s Baltimore Harbor after the British bombarded the fort during the War of 1812._[2]
The world’s first telegraph line was set up between Washington, DC, and Baltimore. The world’s first telegraph was sent from Washington, DC, to Baltimore._[2]
The United States Naval Academy was established in 1845 in Annapolis, Maryland._[2]
The first school in the United States, King William’s School, was built in Annapolis in 1696._[2]
The town of Garrett Park, Maryland, passed a law in 1898 making it illegal to harm any songbird or tree within city limits._[2]
Including the islands that are part of Maryland’s territory, Maryland has 4,431 miles of tidal shoreline._[2]
Maryland is sometimes called "America in miniature" because of its diverse geography. Maryland boasts beautiful coastlines and sandy dunes, marshlands teeming with animal life, and pine-covered mountains._[2]

Maryland's diverse geography offers something for every nature-lover

Annapolis, Maryland, was briefly the capital of the United States, from 1783–1784._[2]
Maryland celebrates Maryland Day on March 25, in commemoration of that day in 1634 when colonial settlers stepped onto her shores._[2]
Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the most dangerous cities in the United States, with an average violent crime rate of 1,417 per 100,000 residents._[7]
The founders of Maryland’s colonial capital city, St. Mary’s City, designed the city to reflect their ideal of the separation of church and state. The mayor’s home was build in the center, with a Catholic church and school on one side and the statehouse and jail on the other._[5]
From 1655 to 1658, Puritans revolted and took control of the government of Maryland. They outlawed Anglicanism and Catholicism, and actively persecuted Maryland’s Catholics, burning down all Catholic churches in the entire southern region._[5]

Poe, the master of the macabre, spent much of his life in Maryland

Famous writers who lived in Maryland include Edgar Allan Poe, Dashiell Hammett, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Upton Sinclair, Gertrude Stein, and W.E.B. Dubois._[2]
Maryland resident Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native-born North American to be canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church._[5]
The British government transported tens of thousands of English convicts to Maryland to live out their sentences in the mid-1700s._[5]
Famous abolitionist Frederick Douglas was born and educated in Maryland._[2][5]
Emily Post, the foremost writer on etiquette in the United States, was from Maryland._[5]
Maryland was the first state to designate a state exercise: walking._[6]
Maryland's founding father was British colonist George Calvert, known as First Baron Baltimore. Calvert died before the land could be settled, and the establishing of the colony fell to his son Cecil, Second Baron Baltimore._[3]
In exchange for granting the Calvert family a charter to settle a new colony, King Charles I asked that it be named for his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. Thus it was called Terra Mariae, or "Mary-land."_[3]
The first colonizers of Maryland wanted to avoid conflict with the Native American Piscataways living there and requested the chief's permission to settle, which he gave._[3]
One of George Calvert's chief reasons for starting the colony of Maryland was his desire to freely practice Roman Catholicism. Catholics were persecuted and their lives made very difficult in 17th century England._[3]
Two ships, The Ark and The Dove, set out from England in 1633 under Cecil Calvert's leadership, carrying the Maryland settlers seeking religious freedom._[1]

History lives and breathes here

The Maryland State Capitol building is the oldest surviving statehouse still in use._[2]
The critically acclaimed HBO show The Wire takes place in Baltimore, Maryland._[8]
The first bookmobile was created in 1905 in Washington County, Maryland, using a horse-drawn wagon._[5]
A convicted murderer named Harold Benjamin Dean became the first and only person to escape from Maryland's supermax penitentiary in 2002. He squeezed through an 8-inch by 22-inch window and climbed over the razor wire using a rope made of clothing._[4]
Jousting is Maryland's state sport. Lacrosse is the state team sport._[6]
The state drink of Maryland is milk._[6]
The Maryland Gazette, founded in 1727, is the oldest continuously running newspaper in the United States._[2]

Does your state have its own official crustacean?

Maryland has an official state crustacean, the Maryland Blue Crab._[6]
Maryland was home to the world's first dental school, St. Francis Academy, founded in 1828._[2]
One of the most horrific killings in Baltimore's history was the murder of a 50-year-old Catholic nun, Sister Maryann Glinka, in 1993. This was the city's most violent year on record, and prompted the dismissal of the police commissioner._[4]
Harriet Tubman, champion of the Underground Railroad, was born as a slave in Maryland. She escaped from Dorchester County and crossed the state line into Philadelphia._[5]