Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
antique-minded city refugees and working fishermen; while the DC suburbs are packed
with government and office workers seeking green space, and the poor seeking lower
rents. Yet it all somehow works - scrumptious blue crabs, Natty Boh beer and lovely
Chesapeake country being the glue that binds all. This is also an extremely diverse and
progressive state, and was one of the first in the country to legalize gay marriage.
MARYLAND FACTS
Nickname
The Old Line State, the Free State
Population
5.8 million
Area
12,407 sq miles
Capital city
Annapolis (population 39,000)
Other cities
Baltimore (population 621,000), Frederick (population 66,000),
Hagerstown (population 40,000), Salisbury (population 30,500)
Sales tax
6%
Birthplace of
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-95), baseball great Babe Ruth
(1895-1948), actor David Hasselhoff (b 1952), author Tom Clancy (b 1947), swim-
mer Michael Phelps (b 1985)
Home of
'The Star-Spangled Banner,' Baltimore Orioles, TV crime shows The Wire
and Homicide: Life on the Street
Politics
Staunch Democrats
Famous for
Blue crabs, lacrosse, Chesapeake Bay
State sport
Jousting
Driving distances
Baltimore to Annapolis 29 miles, Baltimore to Ocean City 147
miles
History
George Calvert established Maryland as a refuge for persecuted English Catholics in
1634 when he purchased St Mary's City from the local Piscataway, with whom he ini-
tially tried to coexist. Puritan refugees drove both Piscataway and Catholics from control
and shifted power to Annapolis; their harassment of Catholics produced the Tolerance
Act, a flawed but progressive law that allowed freedom of any (Christian) worship in
Maryland - a North American first.
