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Maryland Quarters Are All About the DomeThe Maryland quarters, seventh in the 50 State Quarter series, use the dome of the State House in Annapolis as the central device.Looking into this a bit further, it was obviously a fine choice on the part of the deciding committee. The story of the Maryland State House, and the distinctive dome that appears on the Maryland quarters, offers fascinating glimpses of post Revolutionary War American history, architecture, and building technology. For example, this was the place where George Washington resigned his commission after the Revolution. It is also the place where the Continental Congress was meeting at the time the Revolution ended. Annapolis was at that time not only the capital of Maryland, but the capital of the newly recognized United States of America. Congress actually approved the Treaty of Paris in the State House, to end the Revolutionary War. When Annapolis architect and builder Joseph Clark designed the State House dome, he may well have been inspired by the Schlossturm at Karlsruhe in Germany. A comparison of the two reveals the similarities in design.
Clark probably noticed the Schlossturm in a collection of architectural reference drawings in use at the time. Interestingly, no nails were used in the construction of the dome. Instead, the structure is held together by wooden pegs, and reinforced by locally manufactured iron straps. Protection from lightning was state of the art. An iron rod, pointed at the top, was installed that extended down through the center of the dome to a reservoir of water for grounding -- in accordance with the electrical theories of Benjamin Franklin. Near the top, the lightning rod passes through a globular structure called an “acorn”, for greater stability during storms. The acorn functioned perfectly for over two centuries, though a recent inspection revealed damage from moisture. It was recently replaced by a replica constructed of segments fashioned by craftsmen in each of Maryland’s 23 counties.
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