Early History

1650: John Norwood

John Norwood, a Protestant dissident fled Virginia for religious freedom and economic opportunity.  He settled in Annapolis with his wife, two sons, and two indentured servants.  John Norwood became the first sheriff of the Puritan settlement called Providence (later Ann Arundel County).  In 1655, he fought in the Battle of the Severn, a small skirmish fought toward the end of the English Civil War (1642-1655). This battle took place at Horn Point (today’s Eastport) across the Severn River from Providence (today’s Greenbury Point).  

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Historical marker at the World War II Memorial on Governor Ritchie Highway at the Severn River (image credit: theclio.com)

1658: Norwood

In 1658, John Norwood received a land patent for 230 acres from 2nd Lord Baltimore, Cecil Calvert for the land called “Norwood” which now includes the peninsula of West Annapolis.  On this land, John Norwood began to grow tobacco, at that time a cash crop, making Annapolis a flourishing tobacco trading port. Later in 1659, he patented 100 acres more called “The Intacke” which took the Norwood property to the head of College Creek.

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1650- 1664 Eight landowners south of Severn River

1686: Norwood’s Recovery

Andrew Norwood, John Norwood’s son, acquired a patent for Norwood’s Recovery, the land now called Wardour, a wooded hillside overlooking the Severn. The delay was due to a dispute over inheritance following John Norwood’s death in 1672. The land was used for tobacco farming and cattle.  Andrew Norwood later became a commissioner and helped to lay out the town of Annapolis.

3rd Lord Baltimore  (1637 - 1715) - son of Cecil Calvert 2nd Baron Baltimore.  He inherited the province of Maryland in 1675.

1718: Norwood Beale Plantation

Norwood and Norwood’s Recovery are sold to John Beale, by his brother-in-law Andrew Norwood, John’s grandson.  The land became known as Norwood Beale plantation.  For the next 90 years, Norwood Beale plantation passed by inheritance through prominent families of Anne Arundel County history: Beale, Nicholson, Dorsey and Weems. Click here for more information on Norwood Beale plantation’s land ownership.

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Great Seal of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore

1787: John Beale Weems of Norwood Beale Plantation

John Beale Weems (1782 - 1814) was the son of Mary Dorsey Weems and John Weems. Work on Norwood Beale Plantation was done by slaves owned by the Beale, Dorsey, and Weems families. John Beale held many civic and political offices, such as representative to the Maryland General Assembly, clerk of the Anne Arundel County Court, trustee of public schools, and vestryman at St. Anne’s Church.  One extremely important position that Beale held was that he was entrusted with the Great Seal of the Honorable Charles Calvert. This seal was used on all official documents from the colony and its governor. In 1787, Norwood Beale Plantation was inherited by John Beale Weems, from his aunt, Anne Beale Dorsey.

Jonathan Pinkney portrait by James Peale 1798, credit: Maria DeWitt Jesup Fund, 1925, the Metropolitan Museum of Art

1809: Jonathan Pinkney

In 1809, John Beale Weems sold 200 acres of Norwood Beale plantation to Jonathan Pinkney. Though the land became known as the Pinkney Farm, legal documents still referred to the property as Norwood Beale.  He and his two brothers, William and Ninian fought with the militia against the British in the War of 1812,  Jonathan served for many years as the cashier for Farmer’s National Bank - the first bank chartered in Annapolis.  His son, Somerville, became President of the Annapolis and Elkridge Railroad Company.  His other son, Jonathan Jr. was Maryland Secretary of State. Jonathan Pinkney dies in 1827 leaving 8 children and no widow.

Harbor of Annapolis, 1846

1827: Pinkney Farm

In 1827, Pinkney Farm is inherited by Jonathan Pinkney’s children and grandchildren. On the farm, tenant farmers and slaves raised wheat, corn, potatoes, and apples as well as sheep, hogs, and cattle.  Slaves included Ben Snowden, Joshua, Thomas, Abraham, and Will Conway.  In the 1860s, the tenant farmer was George Phelps. Mortgages and debts forced the land to be sold at auction in 1869.

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Luther Giddings Home named Ceralvo, rumored to be a social club in later years, located in Horse Shoe Farm surrounded by current day Melvin Ave, Giddings Ave, Ridgely Ave, and Annapolis Street

1869: Luther Giddings & Horse Shoe Farm

Alexander Randall and Alexander Hagner were named the trustees of the Pinkney land and gave notice of the sale of the property (237 acres) by public auction.  On January 28, 1869 in the Annapolis Gazette, it stated “Valuable Land near Annapolis”.  Major Luther Giddings was the highest bidder at $46 per acre for a total of $10,384.  Luther Giddings had been a major in the Mexican War (1846-1847) fighting battles at Ceralvo and Monterey and had been awarded a jeweled sword for valor.  In West Annapolis, he built a home called Ceralvo, on the block surrounded by today’s Melvin Avenue, Ridgely Road, Giddings Avenue and Annapolis Street.  He renamed the land Horse Shoe Farm.  He then grows fruits and grapes, including Concords, Clintons, and Ives in the farm fields.  From his grapes, he makes and sells wine.  He also had wine-making farms in his land in Sherwood Forest, Epping Forest, and Round Bay.

Portrait of Luther Giddings, credit: artnet.com

Luther Giddings

(b. 1823 England - d. 1884 Annapolis, buried St Anne’s Cemetery, Annapolis)

Luther Giddings was a lawyer, military officer, politician, farmer, and writer.  A graduate of St. John’s College, he practiced law in Dayton, Ohio.  He served in the Ohio legislature prior to returning to Maryland in 1856.  He reflected the challenging politics in Maryland at this time.  Though a Southern sympathizer, he refrained from fighting in the Civil War because of his previous commitment to “Old Glory”.  In 1867, he was elected one of  Anne Arundel County’s representatives to the state constitutional convention. During his time in Maryland, he owned farms in the areas now called Sherwood Forest, and Epping Forest, and near Round Bay. He was a proprietor of the then largest winery in Maryland and a corporate officer of the Annapolis and Baltimore Short Line Railroad.  Throughout his life, his passion was agriculture, including growing grapes and producing fine wines. 

Luther Giddings’ first wife, Catharine Anne Randall’s (1829-1860) mother was the daughter of US Attorney General William Wirt. Her father was Thomas Randall, captured in the War of 1812 and held in Quebec until the end of the war. Their children were Katherine Giddings Aldridge and Elizabeth Giddings.  Upon the death of Catherine in 1860 , Luther Giddings remarried Mary Wallace Well in 1868.

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Giddings property looking from the West Annapolis property toward the Severn River and the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line Railroad bridge (credit: Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum)

1884: Horse Shoe Farm - Heirs Elizabeth Giddings and Katherine Giddings Aldridge

Upon the death of Luther Giddings in 1884, Horse Shoe Farm which was largely wooded 225 acres was inherited by Elizabeth Giddings and her sister Katherine Giddings Aldridge, the surviving daughters of Luther Giddings.  At that time, the land, largely wooded except for 2 farms and 2 cottages, was bounded by the West Annapolis River (Weems Creek) and Cockadoodle Creek (Shady Lake) and to the north, the Severn River.  In addition, they inherited land from their Father that would become Sherwood Forest.  Katherine lived in Virginia with her husband and Elizabeth moved there from Horse Shoe Farm following her father’s death.  Katherine’s husband, Joseph West Aldridge, had been a Captain in the 42nd Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War.  The sisters initially put the farm up for sale but then subsequently decided to transform the farm into a community of residential lots. In 1886, Elizabeth Giddings sells 5 acres of land to the Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad for right of way and railroad stations.

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1890 Melvin Plat of West Annapolis

1890: 1890 Melvin Plat of West Annapolis (George T. Melvin)

Six years after the death of their father, Katharine and Elizabeth asked George T. Melvin and Henry S. Mancha of Melvin and Mancha to develop the land for residential lots and market the lots. George T. Melvin was also designing the Annapolis area of Murray Hill at the time.  He created a plat, dividing the entire parcel of West Annapolis into 50’x150’ lots. During this time, the Act of Incorporation of West Annapolis was passed by the Maryland General Assembly on April 8, 1890, creating the town of West Annapolis.

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