St. Anne's Church
This location has so much history it's not funny! This is from their website about their early history:
Even though the Act of Establishment was passed by the General Assembly in 1692, the King in Council disallowed it. Fears of oppression of Quakers and other Protestant sects contibuted to this decision. In its struggle against Roman Catholicism, the Crown wanted as many happy non-Catholics as possible. Subsequent Acts passed by the Assembly in 1695 and 1696 were also rejected.
When Queen Anne became monarch in 1702, she signed the Act. There were included in this Act provisions for religious toleration for the above-mentioned groups. They were allowed to have their own places o worship as long as they paid their poll tax of 40 pounds of tobacco per person. Roman Catholics were merely “allowed” to pay the tax.
Communications being what they were at the time (a letter and its reply could take six to eight months to traverse the Atlantic), Governor Nicholson and the General Assembly implemented the Act of 1692 immediately. Provisions were made to begin construction of the State House, King William’s School and the first Saint Anne’s Church. The population of Annapolis at the time being quite small, the undertaking of three major projects at one time severely taxed the available work force as well as the funds to complete all three in a timely manner.
The first appropriations for St. Anne’s were allocated in 1695 and 1696. The Governor set about to hire workmen. The first contractor was Edward Dorsey, but he was fired in 1699 and fined 200 pounds for negligence. This was due to his failure to procure materials and hire workmen.
In 1699, the Assembly specified that the dimensions of the Church were to be 65 feet long, 30 feet wide with a porch and a tower in which to hang a bell. But no progress was made. The following year the Assembly put the appropriated funds into escrow.
In the ensuing four years, although changes were made, the church was finally finished. As a sidelight, the first St. Anne’s front door faced east, toward the State House. By contemporary accounts, St. Anne’s was the only brick church in Maryland (at least until 1708).
Over the succeeding years, interior galleries were added, additional pews (paid for by subscription and useable only by the owner) were installed, and an organ and choir loft were constructed.
However, writers of the time likened St. Anne’s more to a barn than to a house of worship. The haphazardness of these renovations eventually took their toll on the building. In 1775, the congregation petitioned the General Assembly for funds for a new church. In the spring of 1775, the first St. Anne’s Church was razed.
None of our Founding Fathers worshipped in a true St. Anne’s Church during the American Revolution. The congregation worshipped in a theatre on West Street and various other venus until the second St. Anne’s was constructed in 1793. The church site on Church Circle was merely a stockpile of bricks and other materials for the duration of the Revolution and for many years thereafter. The conflict and the accompanying shortage of funds both contributed to no church standing on the site for 18 years.
Even though the Act of Establishment was passed by the General Assembly in 1692, the King in Council disallowed it. Fears of oppression of Quakers and other Protestant sects contibuted to this decision. In its struggle against Roman Catholicism, the Crown wanted as many happy non-Catholics as possible. Subsequent Acts passed by the Assembly in 1695 and 1696 were also rejected.
When Queen Anne became monarch in 1702, she signed the Act. There were included in this Act provisions for religious toleration for the above-mentioned groups. They were allowed to have their own places o worship as long as they paid their poll tax of 40 pounds of tobacco per person. Roman Catholics were merely “allowed” to pay the tax.
Communications being what they were at the time (a letter and its reply could take six to eight months to traverse the Atlantic), Governor Nicholson and the General Assembly implemented the Act of 1692 immediately. Provisions were made to begin construction of the State House, King William’s School and the first Saint Anne’s Church. The population of Annapolis at the time being quite small, the undertaking of three major projects at one time severely taxed the available work force as well as the funds to complete all three in a timely manner.
The first appropriations for St. Anne’s were allocated in 1695 and 1696. The Governor set about to hire workmen. The first contractor was Edward Dorsey, but he was fired in 1699 and fined 200 pounds for negligence. This was due to his failure to procure materials and hire workmen.
In 1699, the Assembly specified that the dimensions of the Church were to be 65 feet long, 30 feet wide with a porch and a tower in which to hang a bell. But no progress was made. The following year the Assembly put the appropriated funds into escrow.
In the ensuing four years, although changes were made, the church was finally finished. As a sidelight, the first St. Anne’s front door faced east, toward the State House. By contemporary accounts, St. Anne’s was the only brick church in Maryland (at least until 1708).
Over the succeeding years, interior galleries were added, additional pews (paid for by subscription and useable only by the owner) were installed, and an organ and choir loft were constructed.
However, writers of the time likened St. Anne’s more to a barn than to a house of worship. The haphazardness of these renovations eventually took their toll on the building. In 1775, the congregation petitioned the General Assembly for funds for a new church. In the spring of 1775, the first St. Anne’s Church was razed.
None of our Founding Fathers worshipped in a true St. Anne’s Church during the American Revolution. The congregation worshipped in a theatre on West Street and various other venus until the second St. Anne’s was constructed in 1793. The church site on Church Circle was merely a stockpile of bricks and other materials for the duration of the Revolution and for many years thereafter. The conflict and the accompanying shortage of funds both contributed to no church standing on the site for 18 years.
The first church built became too small as Annapolis's population grew. The second church was destroyed by a fire in 1858. The current structure is indeed the third Church and is over 150 years old.
