Maryland’s third Governor was influential in establishing Washington College. He was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Revolutionary, and a bit of a rogue.
Many former residents have told tales of odd happenings, but is it just an old house creaking, or is there a ghost?
On October 19, 1774, the citizens of Annapolis watched the brig Peggy Stewart and all its cargo be set ablaze by its owner. An act of early rebellion that stayed with many who witnessed it.
Unrequited love and a stain on a rock that won’t go away make a spooky tale for a Fall evening, but is the reality darker than any ghost story?
The 11-month-long Siege of Boston ended in March 1776 when the Continental Army under General Washington fortified the strategic points in the city, and in fear of a repeat of the Battle of Bunker Hill, British General Howe and his troops withdrew to Nova Scotia. This constituted General Washington’s first victory of the war; however, Washington knew that he had a huge area of territory to defend and convened the Continental Congress to figure out an effective military strategy.
In 1985, former Missouri Congressman James Wadsworth Symington gave Washington College a truly special gift: Alexander Hamilton’s personal copy of George Washington’s Message from the President of the United States of America.
In 1827, Washington College’s original (and only) college building was destroyed by fire. Shortly after the new college building, today’s Middle Hall, was built, the college admitted a limited number of grammar school students, who were educated in that same building. Among these young students was a boy who would go on to become a prolific, celebrated, and internationally-known journalist who also authored poems, short stories, and novels about Maryland and especially his native Eastern Shore.
On September 26, 1777, the British, led by General Howe, marched into the new American capital of Philadelphia. Was this really a victory for the British?
Washington College’s esteemed professor Emeritus Robert “Rob” J.H. Janson-La Palme passed away on September 1, 2026. He was 97 years old.
At the end of August 1868, the Newport Reading Room auctioned her last painting of George Washington. Did it end up here at Washington College?
