Template:Wp-Anne Arundel County, Maryland-History

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The county was named for Lady Anne Arundell, (1615/1616–1649), the daughter of Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour, members of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England. She married Cecilius Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, (1605–1675), and the first lord proprietor of the colony, Province of Maryland, in an arranged marriage contract in 1627 or 1628.

Anne Arundel County (modern spelling adds an 'e' to her first name of "Ann" and removes the second 'L' from the family name of "Arundell" – but the old traditional spelling of her name is still used in the title of the local historical society, the Ann Arundell County Historical Society) was originally part of St. Mary's County, the province's first erected county in the southern portion of the Province of Maryland, which had first been established by arriving settlers in 1634. In 1650, the year after Lady Ann Arundell's death, the county separated from St. Mary's and "erected" into its own jurisdiction and became the third of the 23 Maryland counties. It was composed of the hundreds of Town Neck, Middle Neck, Broad Neck, South River, West River, and Herring Creek. Between 1654 and 1658, the county was known as "Providence" by many of its early settlers.

On March 25, 1655, during the English Civil War, (1642-1651), in Europe, the Battle of the Severn, the first naval colonial battle ever fought in America, was fought in Anne Arundel County on the Severn River between Puritan forces supporting the Commonwealth of England and forces loyal to Lord Proprietor Cecilius Calvert. The Commonwealth forces under William Fuller were victorious.

In 1692, the Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, became the established church of the Province of Maryland through an Act of the General Assembly. Ten counties had been established in the colony, and those counties were divided into 30 parishes, with vestrymen appointed within each. Ann Arrundell County was divided into four parishes: Herring Creek, South River, Middle Neck, and Broad Neck.

Between 1694 and 1695, the provincial capital of Maryland was moved from St. Mary's City along the northern shore of the Potomac River across from the southern colonial border with the Province of Virginia in St. Mary's County farther north along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, midway in the colony to Annapolis in Anne Arundel County. Prior to the move, Annapolis was known as "Providence".

During the American Revolutionary War, citizens of Anne Arundel County supported the Continental Army by providing troops for three regiments. The 3rd Maryland Regiment, the 4th Maryland Regiment, and the 6th Maryland Regiment were recruited in the county.

During the War of 1812, the one of the original six heavy frigates of the recently re-established United States Navy, U.S.S. Constitution, sailed from Annapolis prior to its victorious engagement with the H.M.S. Guerriere of the British Royal Navy.

On May 22, 1830, the inaugural horse-drawn train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad travelled the of the newly completed track from Mount Clare Station in southwestern Baltimore City to Ellicott Mills, (now Ellicott City), then in the Western or Howard District (now Howard County) of Anne Arundel County. This was the first regular railroad passenger service in the United States. In 1831, land west of the railroad was considered the Howard District of Anne Arundel County. In 1851, The Howard District was broken off to form Howard County, now the 21st county in Maryland (of 23).

The county has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places.