In the mid-nineteenth century, Maryland Avenue was straddling two worlds: the old world of pre-Revolutionary grand estates and the new world of commercial and residential construction. On this scavenger hunt, you will see the avenue through the eyes of the Loockerman family who lived at the Hammond-Harwood House. The house was begun in 1774 for Matthias Hammond who never lived there. In 1811, the Loockermans moved into the house. Their eldest daughter married William Harwood. The Loockerman granddaughter, Hester Harwood, was the last private owner before it became a museum.

We begin the hunt a block from the Hammond-Harwood House on Hanover Street. Go to 207 Hanover Street. Here stands the Peggy Stewart House built between 1761 and 1764. It is associated with the Annapolis version of the Boston Tea Party. The Peggy Stewart was a ship that belonged to the owner of the house. The ship was burned by Annapolis patriots for carrying taxable tea arriving from England. Saved from the wreckage was a porcelain bowl which is now on display at the Hammond-Harwood House.

Can you find the plaque indicating this historical landmark?

Go to 215 Hanover Street. Built around 1769, this was the Rectory for St. Anne’s Church. George Washington was among the prominent people who visited here. The residents of the Hammond-Harwood House belonged to St. Anne’s parish and would have been very familiar with the Rectory.

Can you find the dormer window that does not match the others?

Walk to the nearby Naval Academy Gate. In 1811, Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase purchased the Hammond-Harwood House for his daughter Frances. The Pinkney family who had been living there moved to a cottage where the Naval Academy Chapel now stands.

Can you find the dome of the chapel and tell what it is made of?

Turn down Maryland Avenue and go to 9-11. This house was built around 1760. Before moving to the Hammond-Harwood House in 1811, it is thought that Frances and Richard Loockerman, daughter and son-in-law of Annapolis mayor Judge Jeremiah Chase, lived here.

Can you find an example of something that is not symmetrical on the front façade?

Cross the street to 16 Maryland Avenue. Benjamin Harwood, great uncle of William Harwood, owned this unimproved land in 1821. He was Treasurer of the Western Shore and Treasurer of St. John’s College. William Harwood, who lived at the Hammond-Harwood House, would have watched the construction of this house in 1852. He was the son-in-law of Frances and Richard Loockermen.

Can you find the goldfish pond?

Cross King George Street to 19 and 22 Maryland Avenue. The Hammond-Harwood House at number 19 directly faces the Chase-Lloyd House at number 22 across the street. The houses juxtaposition present a beautiful contrast of colonial era architecture. Either one of these houses in one city would be a cause for architectural celebration, but the fact that these two houses, so diverse in character, and representative of the period, stand in conversation across from each other, on the same street is a very rare feat indeed, and not something that should go unnoticed.  These two houses share a common social and architectural history. William Buckland, the architect of the Hammond-Harwood House, also worked on the interior of the Chase-Lloyd House. Samuel Chase, the first owner of number 22, was a cousin of Judge Chase who bought 19.

Can you find which house has an elaborate round window?

Walk up Maryland Avenue, cross Prince George Street, and stop at 80-82. After the sudden death of architect William Buckland in 1774, it was his apprentice John Randall who finished the Hammond-Harwood House. His son, Alexander Randall, was a lawyer and constructed a one-story, wood frame enclosure as his law office at this spot in the mid-nineteenth century.

How many differences can you find between what was here then and what is here now? (Think stories and building materials.)

Cross State Circle to the Capitol. In the nineteenth century, the people who lived in the Maryland Avenue neighborhood would have seen a small Methodist church on this site.

Can you find the marker that details this church?

Walk back down Maryland Avenue to the corner of Prince George Street and Maryland Avenue. Observe 222 Prince George Street. Up until the 1860s this site would have been part of the Hammond-Harwood property. In 1893, the current church building was constructed as the Maryland Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church.

How many differently shaped windows can you find?

Keep walking down Maryland Avenue to Cumberland Court. This was the site of the Hammond-Harwood orchard. In 1875, an improvement was made to the Hammond-Harwood House to accommodate a rental apartment.

Can you locate a small one-story addition that is not symmetrical with the house?