Picture this. You stand before the Rising Sun Inn. Its weathered wood whispers tales of centuries. This isn’t just a building. It’s a living testament to American history.
The Rising Sun Inn began its life around 1753. Edward Baldwin a prominent tobacco grower built it as a farmhouse. He his wife Susan and their four children lived there. Tragically Edward died young leaving the property to his sons. Henry inherited the house and land. He later fought in the Revolutionary War. His brother James supplied the Continental Army with tobacco. It was shipped from nearby Indian Landing.
Imagine the scene. Continental troops marching past the Inn on the Old Post Road. This road connected Baltimore and Annapolis. It was a vital north-south route during the colonial period. General George Washington and the French General Rochambeau traveled this very road. It’s now called Generals Highway. It’s part of the National Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route. Rochambeau’s troops used this route in 1781. They sailed from Annapolis to Jamestown. They helped defeat the British at Yorktown. Washington’s most famous journey on this road was in 1783. He resigned as Commander-in-Chief at the Annapolis Statehouse.
After the war Henry Baldwin expanded the Inn. He married Sarah Hall Rawlings. He added the gambrel-roofed addition. In 1785 he obtained a tavern license. It became known as Baldwin’s Tavern then the Rising Sun Tavern. It served as a post office a stagecoach stop and a meeting place. It even housed the tax collector. After Henry’s death in 1794 his second wife Maria continued to operate the tavern.
The Rising Sun Inn changed hands several times. Richard Caton a wealthy merchant owned it until 1836. Adam Allen and then his wife Mary lived there. Mary sold the Inn in the mid-1850s. Records describe the property as old decaying and rapidly deteriorating. Alexander Randall a Maryland Attorney General owned it briefly. Finally the Williams family owned the Inn until 1913.
After Benjamin Randolph Williams’ death the Inn stood vacant. It fell into disrepair. Then in 1916 Mrs Alice Leakin Welsh and other women saved it from demolition. They gifted it to the Anne Arundel Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. It was restored and became a museum.
The Rising Sun Inn served many purposes. It was a Red Cross center and a recreation center for Fort Meade soldiers during the World Wars. It became a tea house attracting visitors from around the world. Today the Rising Sun Inn continues its legacy. It’s a museum a meeting place and a reminder of its rich past. It stands as a symbol of perseverance and community spirit. A testament to those who fought to preserve this slice of history. A place where the past present and future intertwine.