Interesting Facts About Maryland

We're going to share a little information about our state ... Maryland. 

The Maryland flag contains the family crest of the Calvert and Crossland families.

Maryland was founded as an English colony in 1634 by Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore.

The black and Gold designs belong to the Calvert family.

The red and white design belongs to the Crossland family.

It is the only state flag in the United States to be based on English heraldry. (While the flag of Washington, D.C., is a representation of the coat of arms of the Washington family, Washington, D.C., is not a state.)

It was officially adopted by Maryland in 1904.

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.. The pirate Black Beard is rumored ot have stashed his treasure here.

.. The first printing of the Declaration of Independence was done in Baltimore.

.. Maryland's first brewery opened in Annapolis in 1703 by Benjamin Fordham.

.. The Ouija Board was developed in Baltimore by the Fulf brothers in 1892.

..  The first state to adopt the 'shield law' protecting journalists from revealing their sources.

.. The first and only MLB player to hit 7 for 7 in a game was Wilbert Robinson, catcher for the Baltimore Orioles in 1892.

.. The Maryland Gazette founded in Annpolis on Sept. 12, 1727 is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the U.S.

.. America's National Anthem was written by Francis Scott Key, a Maryland lawyer, in 1814 while watching the bombardment of Ft. McHenry in Baltimore Harbor.

.. In 1774 William Goddard established the Constitution Postal System in Baltimore which became the U.S. Post Office.

.. Forests cover approximately 2.7 million acres, or 43% of the state's surface.  Oak and hickory and loblolly pine are the most prevalent.

.. Maryland gave up some of its land to form Washington, D.C.

.. Sixteen of the 23 Maryland counties border on tidal water.  The combined length of tidal shoreline, including islands, is 4,431 miles.

.. Near the town of Hancock, the state is only about 1 mile wide, the narrowest width of any state.

.. In the Annapolis Harbor are the remains of the ship Peggy Steward, burned in protest to the English tea tax.

.. Three dinosaur fossils were found here:  Astrodon, Pleurocoelus and Priconodon.