09-25-2022 Capital Style - Flipbook - Page 42
Stephen Dudley, chief engineer for Historic Inns of Annapolis, looks at a display case of letters and artifacts at the Maryland Inn.
By Mary Carole McCauley
Photos by Barbara Haddock Taylor Capital Style
V
isitors to the three Historic Inns of Annapolis may
find: the ghost of a heartbroken bride, a secret
underground tunnel to the Maryland State House
that political figures may have used in wartime to
evade capture, and a letter signed by Abraham Lincoln.
Engineers will want to check out a 18th century exposed
brick hypocaust, a method of heating dating back to the
Romans that involved starting a fire(!) beneath the floor, while
percussionists can stand in the spot where the town drummer
struck a series of complex beats to summon politicians to the
State House for the start of legislative sessions.
And while George Washington might not have slept at one
of these three charming old inns, he definitely sat here. And
danced here. And bet money there.
“His favorite hotel was the Robert Johnson house,” said
Kenneth White, general manager of the three hotels.
“He used to sit in the lobby and meet with legislators before
and after sessions. He danced in the ballroom and gambled in
the parlors. There’s a story that he actually gambled away a
horse, though I don’t know if it’s true.”
The three boutique hotels were built in the 18th century
and are owned by the Dallas-based Remington Hotels:
The 50-room, 294-year-old Governor Calvert House was
constructed in 1728 as a private home and was used as a
barracks until 1784, when it housed officers captured during
the Revolutionary War. The 40-room Maryland Inn has always
been a public house. It opened in 1772 and is celebrating its
250th anniversary. And the 28-room Robert Johnson House
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| CAPITAL STYLE | Fall 2022
Photograph of Annapolis from the State House by Henry
Schaefer c. 1888-1895. The Governor Calvert House is the
bottom center building. HISTORIC INNS OF ANNAPOLIS
was built in 1773 as a private home.
Hotel staff have come to treasure the way the past mingles
harmoniously with the present in these inns, providing small,
intriguing glimpses backward in time.
During a visit to the King of France Tavern, White pointed
to an opening in a wall where a brick apparently had somehow come loose and gone missing. The aperture was filled by a
chunk of wood cut to precisely the right shape. The block was
fixed into the wall with two nails shaped like small anvils that
look nothing like today’s mass-produced hardware.
“The quirks of these buildings fascinate me,” said Michelle