163 Duke of Gloucester Street
Annapolis
This house is one of over 25 properties once owned by William H. Butler.Butler is listed in the Anne Arundel County Records as "a free person ofcolor". He was a carter, a carpenter and one of the wealthiest free blacksin Annapolis during the 1860¹s. When Butler bought the property, thenon-traditional house had been recently built. It was a stylish, twelve room,Italiante townhouse, one of the few in Annapolis at that time. Butler wasso successful that he donated two lots to the Maryland Colored Baptist Church(now the First Baptist Church). He used some of his other property to buildfive frame row houses to rent out. In 1873, Butler was elected to serve onthe Annapolis City Council, becoming the first African American to be electedto state office in Maryland. He served until 1875. His son, a teacher servedfrom 1893-1897. In 1892, William H. Butler, So. died a wealth landowner.Sarah, his wife spent the rest of her life in the house on Duke of GloucesterStreet and it was kept in the family until 1922.
The Maynard-Burgess House is unique in the sense that it was owned and occupiedby African-Americans from 1840-1990. It was owned by the Maynard family from1840 to 1914, then by the Burgess family until 1990. The original owner ofthe house was John Maynard. Maynard was born in 1811 a free black. Beforehe bought his house, he purchased and freed his wife, her daughter and hismother-in-law. They all shared the house. The original three bay, one andone half story house almost tripled in value after the Maynards improvedand expanded it, over a ten year period, to a full two story house. The houseincluded two front entrances, dormers and a massive central brick chimney.John Maynard's occupation is listed as a waiter in the 1860 census. He wasa community leader and a pillar of Old Mt. Moriah A.M.E. Church. (Now theBanneker-Douglass museum). For example, he donated funds for the stained-glasswindow when the church was built. At John Maynard's death in 1874, theMaynard-Burgess House was sold to Willis Burgess.
In 1990, a private developer tried to renovate the house to resell it. Luckily,its historical significance was recognized and the house was left untouched.Currently, the house is the site of an archaeological excavation by "Archaeologyin Annapolis." The project is a collaboration between the University of Marylandat College Park and He Historic Annapolis Foundation. Grants for the projectare provided by the Maryland Historical Trust and the City of Annapolis.The goal is to turn the Maynard-Burgess House into a museum displaying someof the thousands of artifacts ground there, depicting nineteenth centuryAfrican-American life in Annapolis.
This plaque commemoratesthe arrival of Kunte Kinte, of Roots fame andhis 97 enslaved companions. They made the journey from western Africa toAmerica and landed on September 29, 1767. The plaque is sponsored by theAnne Arundel Coalition of Annapolis Tenants and was dedicated by Alex Haleyin September of 1981.
The Grassland Plantation was built between 1852 an 1854 by slaves on theplantation. The grandfather of the present owner, John Bowie, Jr. recordedthe construction of every building in his farm journal. (This diary is atthe Maryland Historical Society, listed under William Anderson.) The bookalso contains information about daily farm life. Grassland Plantation consistsof a brick main house, a frame slave house, a stone smokehouse, a frame storageshed, a harness shed, a corn crib and ruins of other buildings that wereonce part of the plantation.
Tulip Hill is an eighteenth century Georgian mansion. It is named for thetulip poplar trees that surround it. According to local legend, there isa tunnel leading from the mansion to the West River that was used to smuggleslaves.
In 1888, a group of African-American laymen who called themselves "the Orderof Galilean Fishermen" opened a school off East Street in association withthe Free Seat Methodist Episcopal Church. The Galilean Fishermen (AnnapolisChapter) had been established to provide African-American children with aneducation. The school started as a two story building, then grew to fourstories. The Galilean Fishermen "Free" School stayed open until the late1890's. It was then turned into the Galilean Hall Office Building. Todayit is used as an apartment building.
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