Join us on six Tuesday mornings this summer for storytime and fun activities in the William Paca Garden, a secret treasure in the Historic District of Annapolis. Each program is designed for little ones (4-7 years) with a book reading, song, craft/art project, and free time in the garden. This story, "The Rainbow Fish," teaches us about friendship and happiness when we learn to share. Will Rainbow Fish find any friends? We will share ideas on what it means to be a good friend. We will sing a friendship song, create a friendship...

In our continuous efforts to dismantle oppressive systems and increase cultural competence, the BDM Anti-Racism Committee and Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture present our second anti-racism training: The Big Unequitable Picture; Criminal Justice, and Education. Special thanks to the 2021 Anti-Racism Coalition for developing this dynamic anti-racism training.  Participants will: Examine historical events, ideologies, and social structures, and how they inform modern-day beliefs, biases, and perceptions. Analyze concepts of racial identity, bias, privilege, and prejudice Reflect on their own identity, bias, privilege, and prejudice Identify strategies to...

Summer Storytime A love of architecture and design is a beautiful thing! In this hour long program for children, museum educators will inspire a passion for the elements of building. The program highlights the life 18th century English architect of the Hammond-Harwood House William Buckland and his enslaved skilled craftsman Oxford. Children will begin by going on an architectural scavenger hunt of the front of the Hammond-Harwood House and then move inside to the Dining Room, concentrating on unique architectural features like the molding and jib door. Next educators will...

Discover the history of the Gresham Estate, London Town's newest site. Located about 10 minutes from London Town, the Gresham Estate dates back to the late 17th century. Owners have included everyone from actual pirate William Cotter to Commodore Isaac Mayo (for whom the Mayo Peninsula is named) and more. Following your tour, you'll have a chance to speak with the archaeologists and students from St. Mary's College conducting the first ever archaeological investigation of the site. ​ $7 for members and $10 for non-members. Does not include admission to Historic...

Discover the history of the Gresham Estate, London Town's newest site. Located about 10 minutes from London Town, the Gresham Estate dates back to the late 17th century. Owners have included everyone from actual pirate William Cotter to Commodore Isaac Mayo (for whom the Mayo Peninsula is named) and more. Following your tour, you'll have a chance to speak with the archaeologists and students from St. Mary's College conducting the first ever archaeological investigation of the site. ​ $7 for members and $10 for non-members. Does not include admission to Historic...

July 29 - Kavoossi & The Typos The Tides & Tunes Summer Concert Series offers 10 weeks of popular music–from rock to folk to blues–with the incomparable backdrop of the Chesapeake Bay. Concerts are free; however, donations are gratefully accepted. Food and spirits are available for purchase. Beverage sales support the Museum’s education program. Bring a chair or blanket. Concerts start at 7 p.m. at the Museum’s waterfront McNasby campus (723 Second St., Annapolis).  

In the 1750s North America took center stage in the world’s first truly global war. In Europe and nearly everywhere else, this bitter contest among the great empires of Britain, France, and Spain is known as the Seven Years War (1756–1763). Here in the United States we call it the French and Indian War. Join University of Maryland historian Dr. Richard Bell as he tracks the shifting fortunes of these several European forces, as well as their Native and colonial American allies, on American soil. We will examine the peace...

Discover the history of the Gresham Estate, London Town's newest site. Located about 10 minutes from London Town, the Gresham Estate dates back to the late 17th century. Owners have included everyone from actual pirate William Cotter to Commodore Isaac Mayo (for whom the Mayo Peninsula is named) and more. Following your tour, you'll have a chance to speak with the archaeologists and students from St. Mary's College conducting the first ever archaeological investigation of the site. ​ $7 for members and $10 for non-members. Does not include admission to Historic...

Get your hands dirty and immerse yourself into the world of succulents. Build your own container garden and learn how to care for these fun, hardy desert plants while also learning about their growth habits and propagation. ​$25 for members and $30 for non-members. Participants must be 13+. Limited seats available. Pre-registration required.

The Odenton Heritage Society will mark Odenton's 150th anniversary with a yearlong celebration and the reopening of their museum at an Open House on Sunday, August 1, 2021.  It was on August 2, 1871 that the U. S. Post Office Department established the Odenton post office at a new railroad junction under construction near the present MARC station.  Trains began running through the junction on July, 1872, and Odenton's identity - a railroad town named for Baltimore and Potomac Railroad President Oden Bowie - was complete. The OHS Museum presents...

Historic Annapolis invites you to an evening of celebration with the Bristol County Fifes and Drums in the William Paca Garden! Meet 25 fully uniformed fifes and drummers from Bristol, Rhode Island as they play favorites like Yankee Doodle, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and You’re a Grand Old Flag, along with Irish jigs and reels. Bring your family and a blanket and watch from the lawn and terrace as the spirited group marches and plays authentic music of the colonial era. Cost: $20 per person General Admission; $15...

From punches to bounces, syllabubs to juleps, colonists imbibed a wide variety of alcoholic beverages. At Colonial Cocktails, you’ll get to make and enjoy two historical drinks and learn about colonial tavern culture. In this session, we'll be delving into the world of wines with Negus, a spiced port, and Lemonade a Second Way, a thirst-quenching drink to beat the heat of Maryland summer.​ $25 for members and $30 for non-members. Participants must be 21+. Limited seats available. Pre-registration required.

The Tides & Tunes Summer Concert Series offers 10 weeks of popular music–from rock to folk to blues–with the incomparable backdrop of the Chesapeake Bay. Concerts are free; however, donations are gratefully accepted. Food and spirits are available for purchase. Beverage sales support the Museum’s education program. Bring a chair or blanket. Concerts start at 7 p.m. at the Museum’s waterfront McNasby campus (723 Second St., Annapolis).  

Join the City of Annapolis, the Postmaster General for Annapolis, and the United States Lighthouse Society for a dedication of this new series of Forever postage stamps dedicated to the Mid-Atlantic Area and especially Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. This event will take place on Saturday, August 7 at 2:00 pm at the Susan Campbell Park, Annapolis City Dock.

Join us on six Tuesday mornings this summer for storytime and fun activities in the William Paca Garden, a secret treasure in the Historic District of Annapolis. Each program is designed for little ones (4-7 years) with a book reading, song, craft/art project, and free time in the garden. Shhhhh.  Do not talk!  Do not hurry! Get ready to fill your ears with a world of wonderful and surprising sounds in Mr. Paca’s backyard. “The Listening Walk” helps us to discover an extraordinary world of sounds in our everyday environment!  We will go for a nature listening...

Feeling crabby?  Join us for Crab Lab, an outdoor adventure into the world of the Chesapeake’s favorite crustacean, the Blue Crab!  This month we’ll talk the talk and walk the crabwalk as we learn all about crabs, conduct water experiments, and explore the past, present, and future of these cool critters. ​$8 for member children grades 1 - 4 $10 for non-member children grades 1 - 4​ Pre-registration is required. Limited availability.

Back by popular demand! Dine al fresco at the William Paca Garden, the crown jewel of Annapolis. Experience a four-course dinner with a specially curated menu as you enjoy the beauty of our picturesque English Garden. Extravagant food and wine, along with the unparalleled service of Ken’s Creative Kitchen, will create an unforgettable evening. Registration required by August 4. Limited seating available. Seatings will be available for parties up to 10 per table. You will be contacted closer to the event date to arrange your seating preferences. Doors will open at 5:30 pm; dinner service starts promptly...

Chris Haley, performer, author, historian and filmmaker, will share personal insights on the occasion of his celebrated uncle’s 100th birthday. Son of the author’s youngest brother, Julius, Chris is the co-director of an Emmy nominated documentary, Unmarked, and author of the recently published book of poetry, Until The Right One Comes Along. Among other credits, he has appeared on The Wire, performed onstage with Chuck Berry, and has headed the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland program at the Maryland since 2005. As a speaker, he has spoken primarily on Black...

Speaker: Diane Rey, Historian and Re-enactor Anne Catharine Green became the publisher of the Maryland Gazette following her husband’s death in 1767, and her story would be inspiring in any era: a successful business woman operating in a man's world. Add in that this "Printer to the Province" gave birth to 14 children and her fuller story is revealed. Make yourself a favorite cup of tea and tune in to celebrate this remarkable Founding Mother. Re-enactor Diane Rey will present a vivid portrayal of the woman herself. Afterward, follow along...

August 12 - Honest Lee Soul The Tides & Tunes Summer Concert Series offers 10 weeks of popular music–from rock to folk to blues–with the incomparable backdrop of the Chesapeake Bay. Concerts are free; however, donations are gratefully accepted. Food and spirits are available for purchase. Beverage sales support the Museum’s education program. Bring a chair or blanket. Concerts start at 7 p.m. at the Museum’s waterfront McNasby campus (723 Second St., Annapolis).  

August 13th: Guava Jelly Apollo’s Envy Join the Free Friday Night Summer Concert Series at Goshen Farm! End your week on a high note and rock in the weekend with our new 2021 line-up. It’s a family-friendly setting right here in Cape St. Claire on the Broadneck Penisula. You can walk, bike, or drive over to hear great tunes, enjoy friends, and relax. So pack up the blankets, grab some snacks, and head over. Each event features local artists. Two groups/bands perform each night from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm....

The Hammond-Harwood House Museum and Chase Home invite guests to a two hour-long tour that explores the two architectural treasures in downtown Annapolis. The tour will cover the interior of the Hammond-Harwood House and the gardens of the Chase Home. Guests will learn about the architectural details and the longstanding social history that connects these two great houses on Maryland Avenue. This tour celebrates the two-hundred and eighty-seventh anniversary of architect William Buckland. Registration is required.

Join us on six Tuesday mornings this summer for storytime and fun activities in the William Paca Garden, a secret treasure in the Historic District of Annapolis. Each program is designed for little ones (4-7 years) with a book reading, song, craft/art project, and free time in the garden. Have you ever taken a moment to notice all the brilliant colors in a garden? This story, "Planting A Rainbow," follows a mother and daughter’s adventure as they plant seeds and bulbs in their backyard. Let’s get together and reflect on how flowers in our gardens depict...

The Declaration of Independence is a peculiar thing. It’s a literary masterpiece that was written jointly by a committee of fifty people. It’s short and punchy—just 1310 words long—but still somehow daunting and difficult to get to grips with (there’s a reason most of us have never read it in full and can only quote the first third of its second sentence). And what is it exactly? Is it a birth certificate announcing happy news, or a petition for divorce full of grievance and score-settling, or something else? Is it...

Tour of the house that compares the customs and social graces of the Loockerman family, who lived in the Hammond-Harwood House in the early 19th century, with those of characters in Jane Austen novels.

August 19 - Blue Suede Bop The Tides & Tunes Summer Concert Series offers 10 weeks of popular music–from rock to folk to blues–with the incomparable backdrop of the Chesapeake Bay. Concerts are free; however, donations are gratefully accepted. Food and spirits are available for purchase. Beverage sales support the Museum’s education program. Bring a chair or blanket. Concerts start at 7 p.m. at the Museum’s waterfront McNasby campus (723 Second St., Annapolis).  

The hated Townshend Acts passed by the British government in 1767 taxed glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea, to which merchants in Maryland and other colonies responded by entering into a non-importation agreement, refusing to import British goods. Everything but the tax on tea was repealed in March 1770, and now, the non-importation agreements have fallen apart. Are we back to a new normal, or are tensions still simmering? And what might a new fight over tobacco and taxes mean for colonial Marylanders? Visit the Waterfront Warehouse, Shiplap House, and...

The Goshen Farm Annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser & Raffle is cancelled, but you can still participate in their raffle. Tickets are $15 and the winners will be picked on September 18th at 3 pm at the Goshen Farm Fall Open House.  

The hated Townshend Acts passed by the British government in 1767 taxed glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea, to which merchants in Maryland and other colonies responded by entering into a non-importation agreement, refusing to import British goods. Everything but the tax on tea was repealed in March 1770, and now, the non-importation agreements have fallen apart. Are we back to a new normal, or are tensions still simmering? And what might a new fight over tobacco and taxes mean for colonial Marylanders? Visit the Waterfront Warehouse, Shiplap House, and...

Explore 300 years of architecture in historic Annapolis, the museum without walls, with an architectural historian during this varied and informative walking tour. Highlights of the tour include the Shiplap House, the Paca House, Patrick Creagh House, Hammond Harwood House, and the Chase Lloyd House. Cost: $22 Adults; $10 Child (11 and under) Architrex Tours are presented in partnership with Watermark.

This presentation examines the role that Dutch traders played in the economic and cultural development of the Chesapeake during the seventeenth century. Relying on court records, mercantile accounts, correspondence, and material culture evidence, Dr. Christian Koot reconstructs the mercantile and kinship networks that tied Dutch traders in New Netherland (New York) to English planters as well as the rich artifactual residue of this trade. When England’s Restoration government ordered a clamp down on Anglo-Dutch smuggling in the Chesapeake in the 1660s Dutch and English traders in Maryland were at the forefront of...

Summer Storytime Calling all pre-historic creature lovers! Did you know that Hammond-Harwood House has a connection to one of the earliest pre-historic excavations in America? Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) was a famous painter who grew up in Annapolis, and many of his painting are in the Hammond-Harwood House. Peale was more than just a painter, he was also an early scientist who excavated mastodon bones from the Hudson Valley in New York. Peale later displayed the mastodon model in his own natural history museum in Philadelphia. The program will start...

Part of the Cathleen H. Far Lecture Series. Free, online presentation by Joyce White, Food Historian and Hammond-Harwood House Trustee. Join food historian Joyce White on a journey back in time to discover the exotic imports available to wealthy residents of 18th century Annapolis. This lecture takes participants on a virtual shopping spree through the streets of colonial Annapolis to discover the assorted spices, condiments, sugars, cheeses, teas, coffees, chocolate, spirits, wines, and beer, among many other items offered for sale.  This lecture coordinates with the current museum exhibition, Decadent...

From punches to bounces, syllabubs to juleps, colonists imbibed a wide variety of alcoholic beverages. At Colonial Cocktails, you’ll get to make and enjoy two historical drinks and learn about colonial tavern culture. In this session, we'll try a new take on an old favorite with cherry bounce, then concoct a ratafia, a fruity liquor with hints of fruit and almond. ALLERGEN ALERT: TREE NUTS ​$25 for members and $30 for non-members.​ Participants must be 21+. Limited seats available. Pre-registration required.

August 27th Dana and the 408 Tim Kurtzberg Join the Free Friday Night Summer Concert Series at Goshen Farm! End your week on a high note and rock in the weekend with our new 2021 line-up. It’s a family-friendly setting right here in Cape St. Claire on the Broadneck Penisula. You can walk, bike, or drive over to hear great tunes, enjoy friends, and relax. So pack up the blankets, grab some snacks, and head over. Each event features local artists. Two groups/bands perform each night from 6:30 pm to...

Join Annapolis Green outside Maryland Hall, near the stick sculpture known as “Old Home Place” and talk with those who have taken the leap to drive electric. We’ll have various models of EVs and their drivers are happy to answer questions. You will also be able to see the charging stations at Maryland Hall that are free to use. Always Ice Cream Company’s truck will be on hand with cool treats for purchase and enjoyment at Maryland Hall’s picnic tables or under the sculpture. Click on the link to see...

Please note: If you previously registered for the March 2021 lecture, you will need to re-register for the August lecture. Join Michael K. Day, Senior Vice President, Capital Projects at Historic Annapolis, as he offers a behind-the-scenes look at the daunting task of researching, investigating, and painstakingly restoring one of the most iconic 5-part colonial mansions in Annapolis. Mostly shrouded in mystery for decades, the James Brice House Restoration Project will allow it to be open to the public like it never has before. The ultimate goal of this state-of-the-art restoration is to return both the...

From punches to bounces, syllabubs to juleps, colonists imbibed a wide variety of alcoholic beverages. At Colonial Cocktails, you’ll get to make and enjoy two historical drinks and learn about colonial tavern culture. In this session, we'll try a new take on an old favorite with cherry bounce, then concoct a ratafia, a fruity liquor with hints of fruit and almond. ALLERGEN ALERT: TREE NUTS ​$25 for members and $30 for non-members.​ Participants must be 21+. Limited seats available. Pre-registration required.

Did you know? Coffeehouses aren’t new to Annapolis! Yes, even in the era of Mr. Paca, coffeehouses were a place to meet. Mary Howard, proprietress of the Maryland Coffeehouse will be setting up shop at Hogshead Tavern on Saturday, September 4. Learn more about the social hotspots that were 18th-century coffeehouses and taverns from Mrs. Howard, as she displays some of the tools of her trade. Cost: Free (donations welcome)

The Odenton Heritage Society continues its 150 celebration with an Open House. The museum presents more than 150 years of Odenton history. Admission and tours are free.