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London Town grew as a sea port town in 1684. It was in close proximity to Annapolis, the state capital of Maryland. Maryland is one of the original thirteen states of the United States of America. It was sited on the main route from Williamsburg to Annapolis and Philadelphia. A few ferries sailed in that route. This route was also used by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The London
Town was brought into being to promote commercial developments
and be in command of trade for the purpose of taxation. London
Town was once considered as a site for the capital of Maryland
and posed as a competitor to Annapolis. It was one time
as noteworthy as Annapolis, Williamsburg or even Virginia.
It was a beautiful city with full of life and vigor.
But the town lived only about a century and by 1783,
much of it was transformed into farmland. The town was
on its top from A.D.1710 to A.D. 1750 in which it grew
up both in magnitude and meaning and challenged the
authority of Annapolis and Virginia.
This was a colonial seaport London Town which grew strictly according to the requirement of the merchants, planters and ship’s captain. To cater the needs of these people many professionals settled in and around the area. Traders like carpenters, doctors, inn-keepers, leather workers, rope makers, ship builders, and tailors and so on flocked to the town. In short, the entire economic activities of the town were focused to serve up the requirements of those people who were somehow associated with the sea port activities. But these were the same reasons which led to the debacle of the London Town. To be precise this was the main reason why the town succumbed so fast after a single ordinance of the government. The London Town was simply and solely dependent on the port and as the power of port to deal in tobacco was taken away, it in effect got capital punishment and the ferries which sailed in London waters outlived the town itself! The reason which gave rise to London later on became the same raison d'être of its downfall. The town started as a seat of trade and remained so till its demise. That’s why the economic depression, the revolutionary war and above all its non-selection as a tobacco inspection station were more than sufficient reasons for its decline and the town completely vanished from the map of the United States of America by 1783. At this time it has turned out to history and a matter of archeological survey. The town had a sharp rise as well as a sharp fall. In 1747 Maryland Assembly passed an act that permitted only selected sea ports to export tobacco. London town was not propitious enough to figure in the list. The ground of the town’s survival was now taken away from it and it had nothing to do except to count up its last days. It rapidly declined from 1750 to 1760 and by 1783 a major part of the town had become a farmland. London Town later on diminished in size as nearby Annapolis developed into Maryland capital. To be precise it was first deserted and afterwards gulped down by the neighboring areas. At the present a major part of London town is within Annapolis, which was once its competitor. Currently the whole town has shrunk to a twenty-three acre park on the south river in Edgewater, Maryland. This park has a major part of London Town within it. Now a day the park is being excavated and explored by archaeologists from the Lost Town Project. The last relic of London town is William Brown House which was built in 1760. But this was the time when the town was breathing its last and the house could not see the glorious days of the town. Now it is a National Historic Landmark House Museum. Apart from William Brown House there is a Richard Hill Garden of native and imported medicinal plants within its precincts. Richard Hill was a medical practitioner and a botanist during that time. He sent many of his findings to European countries. The William Brown House was built by one William Brown who was given permission to ferry from London Town to Annapolis. He built a grand house which has become the last surviving structure of the lost town of London. It is a superb specimen of Georgian architecture. The house changed several hands due to financial crisis of William Brown. The town was dying and those dependent on it had to suffer reverses. In 1970, the William brown House was registered as a `National Historic Landmark’ and after considerable renovation it was opened for general public in that year. An eight acre garden of medicinal plants attached with it looks wonderful. Present day `Historic London Town and Gardens’ has a multipurpose exhibition area rented for corporate meetings, cultural events, lectures and weddings etc. Lectures, events, demonstrations, workshops are carried on in the subjects like Architecture, History and Horticulture. The excavation of `Historic London Town and Garden’ is Maryland’s biggest archaeological excavation. Now `London Town’ is open for tourists for both guided tour as well as independent tour. Visitors can view the place throughout the year except on major public holidays. The fee charged to visit it is $6 for adult, $4 for seniors, $3 for children in the age group of seven to twelve, and $4 per person for group tour of at least ten people. Children below seven years are allowed to visit free of charge. Members of London Town Foundation Inc. are also allowed free of cost because that foundation is the nodal agency to keep London alive in the reminiscences of the people through little remains of the town. London Town Foundation Inc., works as a custodian of London town. It is not interested in making profit but only to care of its archaeological, historic and horticultural factors. For more details on admission, direction and tour hours the most informative. Related
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