Annapolis, Maryland
The United States Naval Academy was founded in 1845 on the site of Fort Severn, and now occupies an area of land reclaimed from the Severn River next to the Chesapeake Bay. The Annapolis area was the home of a VLF-transmitter called NSS Annapolis, which was used by the United States Navy to communicate with its Atlantic submarine fleet. Students that attend the Naval Academy are enrolled in school for four years with a following five year commitment to serving in the Marine Corps or Navy. There is a typical average of around 4,500 students enrolled.
Colonial Annapolis Historic District
The location of acclaimed national educational schools such as the St. John's College, (elevated to collegiate status in 1784, founded as "King William's School" in 1696) with its historic red-brick Colonial/Georgian and Federal-styled buildings (including the former colonial Governor's Mansion, begun in 1742, later used as McDowell Hall, the primary college structure) and the 1845 establishment of the United States Naval School, the nation's second-oldest military college, (later renamed the U.S. Naval Academy) with its late 19th Century French-styled architecture of Second Empire waterfront campus on the site of old Fort Severn from the War of 1812-era facing the Severn River, provide a sophisticated air to the downtown streets adding the casually attired college students and white-uniformed naval midshipmen walking about amidst the rows of brick townhouses and wood-frame homes.