Queen Anne in Prince George's County, Maryland is a former seaport on the Patuxent River in Maryland.

Geography

Queen Anne is located at 38°53'55" North, 76°40'42" West (38.8987239 -76.6782992). Most of the town's former waterfront area is now part of Patuxent River Park, owned and operated by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. This includes hiking trails, two paddling launches, fishing locations, and an environmental education center operated by 4H. The head of tidewater on the Patuxent River is at the downstream (4H) launch site in Queen Anne.

History

The town was created in 1706 when the colonial Maryland Legislature authorized surveying and laying out the towns of Queen Anne Town, Nottingham, Mill Town, Piscataway, Aire (also known as Broad Creek) and Upper Marlboro (then known as Marlborough Town).

Located between Upper Marlboro, Maryland and what is now Bowie, Maryland, the town grew to a population of about 150, but by the mid 1700s, upland farming in the Patuxent basin without erosion control led to massive silting of the river. The ports along the Patuxent quickly filled with silt and could no longer take in ocean-going vessels such as the snows that frequented the town. The last cargo ship left for England about 1790 and the town began to decline.

In 1747, the legislature tried to improve the quality and the method of marketing tobacco, then the major crop of the area, and established a formal system of tobacco inspection and quality control. The town was home to one of seven state tobacco warehouses built in Prince George's County. A horse racing track was also built in the town.

During the War of 1812, the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla commanded by Joshua Barney scuttled his entire fleet in the shallows off Queen Anne to avoid the vessels being captured by the advancing British.

Renaming

In 1897 the United States Board on Geographic Names decided to change the name of Queen Anne to Hardesty to avoid confusion with the other town in Maryland named Queen Anne. However, local usage including signage, road names, bridge names, commercial mapping, the community association name, etc. continues to reflect the Queen Anne name.

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