Centreville, Maryland

Centreville is located at 39°2′46″N 76°3′52″W (39.046206, −76.064345).[7]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.45 square miles (6.35 km²), all land.[8]

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Centreville has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[9]

Centreville's name was derived from the relocation of the county seat in 1782 from Queenstown to a more central part of the county.

Saint Paul's Parish was established on the site that would later become known as Centreville, Maryland.[12] It was almost 100 years later, in 1782, that the Maryland State Assembly passed an Act to relocate both the courthouse and all government functions of the county to Centreville from Queenstown, making Centreville the new county seat.[13]

However, it took a decade for the appropriate land to be acquired and for the change to take place. A plantation called Chesterfield was chosen as the land to use for the new town which would hold the county's courthouse. Once the town and court house were completed, on the first of June 1796, the county court, "ordered [the courthouse] to be ‘taken, held and deemed to be the proper Court House of Queen Anne's County’".[13]

In 1782, the Queen Anne's county courthouse was moved from its original location in Queenstown, Maryland to an area that would, twelve years later, be named Centreville. The building's location, at the head of the Corsica River, encouraged population growth in the area.[14]

Centreville became an incorporated town in 1794, two years after the courthouse was completed. At the same time, the town laid out, including four streets that remain today: MD 213, S. Liberty St., N. Commerce St., Water St. (MD 304).[14]

Once Centreville was officially home to Queen Anne's county government, lawmakers and officials decided it was appropriate to name the new town in accordance with the new location. Centreville (named partly due to the town's central location) was also chosen because of its prime location on the Corsica River. Easy access to shipping, trading, and naval waters allowed the town to flourish and to become an important Maryland location.[15]

Today, Centreville is the largest town in Queen Anne's county, with a population of 2,097.[14] 2017 has become an all time high for the small town, with a population of 4,767. The Maryland Municipal League's Website, "The Association of Cities and Towns", notes that Centreville's, "[h]istory is reflected in the diverse architecture seen along the streets of the town—elegant Victorian homes with their wrap-around porches, neo-classical public buildings, late-19th-century commercial rows, late-20th-century institutional and government structures, and all the variations and curiosities in between".[15]

Much of the town was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Centreville Historic District in 2004.[16]

In addition to the Centreville Historic District, Bachelor's Hope, Captain's Houses, Centreville Armory, Jackson Collins House, Content, Female Seminary, Keating House, Lansdowne, Lexon, Capt. John H. Ozmon Store, Readbourne, Reed's Creek Farm, and Stratton are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[17]

The oldest courthouse in continuous use, and one of two 18th century courthouses in Maryland, the Queen Anne's County Courthouse is located at 120 North Commerce Street. The location for the courthouse, and for the town of Centreville, was a piece of land on which Judge Joseph Hopper Nicholson lived on at the time.[18] In 1792 the Flemish-bond brick building was completed.[14] At the time it was composed of four rooms, two in the center and one on each side. The courthouse's use was increasing, so, in 1876 it was renovated and remodeled to add more space.[19] An iron balcony was also added to the second story.[14]

A unique feature of the courthouse is a gold eagle on the main building's rooftop. The eagle is thought to be symbolic of America's freedom from England and relays the idea of independence.[18] In Judge John W. Sause, Jr.'s essay, "Why the Eagle", he connects the idea of freedom and the importance of the United States’ seal to the courthouse's eagle. Here, he writes, "Executed by an unknown hand, undoubtedly that of an artisan rather than an artist...our eagle looked down upon the comings and going of the courtyard, the tears and smiles of its citizens and the successes and failures of the political system which it was designed to represent".[20]

A statue of Queen Anne of England, the county's namesake, sits in front of the courthouse. Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, attended the dedication (1977).[19]

Today, the courthouse remains an important figure in Centreville, Queen Anne's County, and the state of Maryland. Keeping true to its original form, the building's exterior is true to its original look.[18]

• Town of Centreville website
• Map of Centreville, from the Historical Society of Kent County collection