Welcome to TheseUnitedStates - Maryland

Maryland was the seventh of the 13 original states to ratify the Constitution, on April 28, 1788.   The 2000 census has Maryland's population at 5,296,486, ranking  19th in the US.  With a total area of  12,407square miles, the state ranks 42nd in size.  Maryland's capital is Annapolis; its largest city is Baltimore.

Useful Internet Links for Maryland:

Official Website of Maryland  

http://www.state.md.us

Travel and Tourism Department  

http://www.mdisfun.org

Call toll free  1-800-MDISFUN

Congress.org - Maryland Elected Officials

Maryland Weather from Weather.com

National Park Service Sites in Maryland

Maryland News from USA Today

Maryland fun facts:

Maryland State Bird:  Baltimore oriole

Maryland State Flower:  Black0eyed Susan

Maryland State Motto:  Manly deeds, womanly words

Maryland State Song:   Maryland, My Maryland

Maryland State Tree:  White Oak

Nicknames: Old Line State, Free State

The geographic center of Maryland lies in Prince George's County, 4.5 miles NW of Davidsonville.  At 3,360 feet, Backbone Mountain, on the Maryland-West Virginia border, is the state's highest point.  Maryland is named for Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I of England.

Brief History:  Europeans encountered Algonquian-speaking Nanticoke and Piscataway and Iroquois-speaking Susquehannock when they first visited the area.  Italian explorer Verrazano explored the Chesapeake region in the early 16th century.  English Captain John Smith explored and mapped the area in 1608.  In 1631, William Claiborne set up a trading post on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay.  King Charles I granted land to Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore, in 1632; two years later, Calvert's brother Leonard, with about 200 settlers, founded St. Marys.  The bravery of Maryland troops in the American Revolution, as at the Battle of Long Island, earned the state its nickname "The Old Line State."  In the War of 1812, when a British fleet tried to take Fort McHenry, Marylander Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner."  Although a slave state, Maryland remained with the Union during the Civil War and was the site of the battle of Antietam, 1862, which halted General Robert E. Lee's march north.

Maryland is Home to Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, and Assateague Island National Seashore.  Other Maryland attractions include The Preakness at Pimlico track, Baltimore; The Maryland Million at Laurel Race Course; Ocean City; Edgar Allan Poe house, Camden Yards, National Aquarium, Harborplace, all Baltimore; Antietam Battlefield, near Hagerstown; South Mountain Battlefield; US Naval Academy, Annapolis; Maryland State House, Annapolis, 1772, the oldest still in legislative use in the US.

Copyright © 2002 - 2005 Walker Marketing Inc. All Rights Reserved  Privacy Policy  Terms of Service