Editing Anne Arundel County, Maryland (section)

==History==
The county was named for Lady [[Anne Arundell]], (1615/1616–1649), the daughter of [[Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour]], members of the ancient family of Arundells in [[Cornwall]], [[England]]. She married [[Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore|Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore]], (1605–1675), and the first lord proprietor of the colony, [[Province of Maryland]], in an arranged marriage contract in 1627 or 1628.{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}} Modern spelling adds an 'e' to her first name of "Ann" and removes the second 'L' from the family name of "Arundell", but the old traditional spelling of her name is still used in the title of the local historical society, the [[Benson-Hammond House|Ann Arundell County Historical Society]].

Anne Arundel County was originally part of [[St. Mary's County, Maryland|St. Mary's County]], the province's first erected county in the southern portion of the [[Province of Maryland]], which had first been established by arriving settlers in 1634. In 1650, the year after Lady Ann Arundell's death, the county separated from St. Mary's and "erected" into its own jurisdiction and became the [[List of counties in Maryland|third of the 23 Maryland counties]]. It was composed of the [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]] of Town Neck, Middle Neck, Broad Neck, South River, West River, and Herring Creek.<ref>[http://genealogytrails.com/mary/annearundel/ourearlysettlers.html Anne Arundel County Maryland - Our Early Settlers], Maryland Genealogy Trails, accessed April 2018.</ref> Between 1654 and 1658, the county was known as "Providence" by many of its early settlers.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Miller|first=Dustin|title=County History {{!}} Anne Arundel County, MD|url=https://www.aacounty.org/our-county/history/|access-date=November 17, 2021|website=www.aacounty.org|language=en}}</ref>

On March 25, 1655, after the [[English Civil War]], (1642–1651), in Europe, the [[Battle of the Severn]], the first naval colonial battle ever fought in North America, was fought in Anne Arundel County on the [[Severn River (Maryland)|Severn River]] between [[Puritan]] forces supporting the [[Commonwealth of England]] and forces loyal to Lord Proprietor Cecilius Calvert. The Commonwealth forces under [[Captain William Fuller|William Fuller]] were victorious.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gambrill|first1=John Montgomery|url=http://archive.org/details/leadingeventsma00stepgoog|title=Leading events of Maryland history; with topical analyses, references, and questions for original thought and research|last2=M. Bates|first2=Stephens|publisher=Boston [etc.]: Ginn and company|year=1904|pages=44–45}}</ref>

In 1692, the Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, became the established church of the Province of Maryland through an Act of the General Assembly. Ten counties had been established in the colony, and those counties were divided into 30 parishes, with vestrymen appointed within each. Ann Arrundell County was divided into four parishes: Herring Creek, South River, Middle Neck, and Broad Neck.<ref>{{cite web|title=Maryland Parishes and Hundreds ca 1696|url=http://www.combs-families.org/combs/records/md/hundreds.htm|publisher=The Combs &c Research Group}}</ref>

Between 1694 and 1695, the provincial capital of Maryland was moved from [[St. Mary's City, Maryland|St. Mary's City]] along the northern shore of the [[Potomac River]] across from the southern colonial border with the [[Province of Virginia]] in St. Mary's County farther north along the western shore of the [[Chesapeake Bay]], midway in the colony to Annapolis in Anne Arundel County. Prior to the move, Annapolis was known as "Providence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aacounty.org/aboutaaco/history.cfm |title=History – Seventeenth Century through the Present |publisher=Anne Arundel County |access-date=August 30, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915000532/http://www.aacounty.org/aboutaaco/history.cfm |archive-date=September 15, 2012}}</ref>

During the [[American Revolutionary War]], citizens of Anne Arundel County supported the [[Continental Army]] by providing troops for three regiments. The [[3rd Maryland Regiment]], the [[4th Maryland Regiment]], and the [[6th Maryland Regiment]] were recruited in the county.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wright Jr. |first=Robert K. |url=https://history.army.mil/html/books/060/60-4-1/CMH_Pub_60-4-1.pdf |title=THE CONTINENTAL ARMY |year=1982 |pages=278–280 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503095206/https://history.army.mil/html/books/060/60-4-1/CMH_Pub_60-4-1.pdf |archive-date=2024-05-03 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the [[War of 1812]], one of the original six heavy frigates of the recently re-established [[United States Navy]], [[USS Constitution|U.S.S. ''Constitution'']], sailed from Annapolis prior to its victorious engagement with the [[USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere|H.M.S. ''Guerriere'']] of the British [[Royal Navy]].{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}

On May 22, 1830, the inaugural horse-drawn train of the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] travelled the {{convert|13|mi|km|0}} of the newly completed track from [[Mount Clare Shops|Mount Clare Station]] in southwestern [[Baltimore]] to [[Ellicott City, Maryland|Ellicott Mills]], (now Ellicott City), then in the Western or Howard District (now [[Howard County, Maryland|Howard County]]) of Anne Arundel County. This was the first regular railroad passenger service in the United States.{{disputed inline|first regular railroad passenger service|date=February 2025}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sander|first=Kathleen Waters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wGShDgAAQBAJ&q=1830+b+&pg=PA42|title=John W. Garrett and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|date=May 25, 2017|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-1-4214-2220-6|language=en}}</ref> In 1831, land west of the railroad was considered the Howard District of Anne Arundel County. In 1851, The Howard District was broken off to form [[Howard County, Maryland|Howard County]], now the 21st county in Maryland (of 23).<ref>{{cite book|title=The founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland|author=Joshua Dorsey Warfield|page=36}}</ref>

The county has a number of properties on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Anne Arundel County, Maryland|National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>