Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

Annapolis, Maryland

A list of Jefferson's visits to Annapolis, Maryland, which served briefly as the capital of the young American republic.

Rough Plan of the Defences of the Harbour of Annapolis In Maryland (Plan of the Works for the Defense of Annapolis) 1814 by William Tatham, William Henry Winder; image courtesy Library of Congress.

Thomas Jefferson visited Annapolis, Maryland, three times:

  • May 1766. Jefferson was on his way to Philadelphia and New York to inoculate himself from smallpox. He wrote to his friend John Page from Annapolis discussing his trip.1
  • June-August 1775. On this trip, Jefferson was on his way to Philadelphia to attend sessions of the Continental Congress.2
  • November 25, 1783–May 11, 1784. Jefferson served as a delegate to Congress during this period. (Annapolis was the U.S. capital from November 1783 to August 1784.)3

Further Sources

  • Robinson, Richard A. "Jefferson's Annapolis." Unpublished report, n.d. Copy in Jefferson Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Footnotes

  1. Jefferson to Page, May 25, 1766, in PTJ, 1:18-20. Transcription available at Founders Online.
  2. For Jefferson's expenditures in Annapolis during the summer of 1775, see MB, 1:398-404. Transcription available at Founders Online.
  3. For Jefferson's expenditures in Annapolis during this period, see MB, 1:540-48. Transcriptions for 1783 and 1784 available at Founders Online.