Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town & South County

 

Nestled along 400 miles of Chesapeake Bay’s western shore and less than an hour’s drive from Washington, Baltimore, and BWI Thurgood Marshall International Airport, Four Rivers encompasses a wealth of historic, cultural, and natural resources.  Four Rivers is the place to begin your exploration of Maryland’s heritage from the well preserved Historic District of Annapolis, Maryland’s capital city on the Severn River and home of the United States Naval Academy and the Maryland State House, to the “lost town” of London Town with its archeological digs, to the National Historic Landmark William Brown House and new Museum and Visitors Center (due to open fall 2005), to the pastoral landscapes and tiny watermen’s villages of South County.

(Quiz: What are the other three rivers in the “Four Rivers” area?  Keep going and you’ll see if you’re right!)

Stroll our city’s streets with a copy of “Footnotes: A Walking Tour of the Historic Properties of Cornhill and Fleet Streets” or  “A Guide to Architecture in Annapolis.” Take a tour of the William Paca House & Gardens (signer of the Declaration of Independence) or the exquisite Georgian Hammond-Harwood House. Pick up a copy of the newly reprinted (it’s popular!) guide to “African-American Heritage in Annapolis & Anne Arundel County.” Take an escorted walking tour with the costumed guides of Three Centuries Tours or an escorted ride with Discover Annapolis Tours. Don’t forget the Naval Academy Museum in Preble Hall when you tour the Academy and its Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center. Did you know that not only did George Washington resign his military commission in our State House, but that he also liked to play the ponies at a racetrack just outside the city?

A visit to what was one of Maryland’s colonial tobacco ports, Historic London Town & Gardens in Edgewater, naturally leads to southern Anne Arundel County, known locally as South County. Pick up a copy of our award-winning audio travelogue CD, “Roots & Tides: A Journey Through Southern Anne Arundel County,” and take one of the suggested driving routes on the accompanying map. You’ll understand why our landscape looks as it does, get a taste of our local music, and hear our stories from area historians, archeologists and long time local residents.  Check the new visitors kiosk and enjoy the Java History Trail on the Rhode River waterfront campus of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and don’t miss a stop in the 350 year old maritime village of Galesville on the West River, Maryland Life magazine’s “Hidden Gem of Anne Arundel County.”

(Roots & Tides is available for purchase by calling the Four Rivers office at 410-222-1805 or at a variety of local sites: the Anne Arundel County Conference & Visitors Bureau on West Street, Historic Annapolis Foundation’s Museum Store near City Dock, Historic London Town and Gardens in Edgewater, Galesville’s Heritage Museum and Pirates Cove Restaurant, Shady Side’s Captain Salem Avery House, and Deale’s Good Deale Bluegrass Shop.)

 

Look for our new Four Rivers Heritage Area trail brochure, which links our heritage sites by theme and map, and check out  a new “Passport to Discovery” children’s activity booklet produced by the Chesapeake Children’s Museum and the Annapolis Department of Transportation. Our “South County Sundays” program is filled with family friendly activities at heritage sites in Southern Anne Arundel County, and don't miss the brand new escorted tours to the 129-year-old National Historic Landmark and Chesapeake Bay icon Thomas Point Shoal Light, arranged and operated through the Annapolis Maritime Museum. Later in 2005, the new Annapolis History Center near City Dock will open as a gateway to Historic Annapolis and the Four Rivers Heritage Area.

Stop at the Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Conference & Visitor’s Bureau at 26 West Street (or the seasonal kiosk at City Dock) for information on lodging, dining shopping, and other attractions. ( www.visit-annapolis.org )

Come Sail Away to Four Rivers---By Land or By Sea…A Great Place to Be!