Walking Through Annapolis’ Jewish History

While downtown Annapolis was packed for the Sailboat Show, we took the alternate route: a walking tour of Jewish history in the city.

– Huge thanks to the Jewish Federation of Annapolis & the Chesapeake and our excellent guide Joan Pinsky, who made two hours of local history both entertaining and memorable.

– Extra grateful to have United States Naval Academy Midshipman 2nd Class Ryland Noorily, a stalwart of the Jewish Midshipmen Club, as my liberty buddy for the morning.  He may have received a stipend for preventing me from wandering off from the group and visiting some of my favorite old liberty locations.

– That’s us in the upper right taking a break with some seasonal decorations.  For clarity, I’m the one in the Navy rugby shirt … not the skeleton.

– The map of upper West Street from the 1940s and ’50s is striking: Jewish-owned businesses (Polan’s, Greengold’s, Hyatt’s, Field’s, and many more) were woven right into the everyday fabric of downtown Annapolis.

– From Kneseth Israel’s first synagogue building in 1910 to those storefronts decades later, Jewish Americans have long been part of this city: not only  excelling at the Naval Academy, but building businesses, neighborhoods, and community life in Maryland’s capital.

– Proud to walk these streets and learn the stories behind them.