Centreville, MD

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Centreville is the county seat of Queen Anne's County, which is on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Centreville's population is just under 2,000. Centreville was a planned city that was laid out on the plantation, named "Chesterfield", of Judge Joseph Nicholson. The county seat had previously been Queenstown, to the southeast, but the seat was moved in 1784. At that time, the town was called Chester Mills, and was renamed Centreville in the 1790's.

Joseph Nicholson, who owned the land that is now Centreville, is more famous for two things. Nicholson is the man who suggested the music for the Star-Spangled Banner to Francis Scott Key, who was his brother-in-law. Nicholson also cast the deciding vote in the Presidential election; Nicholson was carried into Congress, and his vote determined Thomas Jefferson the winner over Aaron Burr.


A house on Liberty Street.



Houses on Liberty Street.



More houses on Liberty Street.



A house on Commerce Street.



Wright's Chance, built in 1744 and located on Commerce Street.



The Queen Anne's County Courthouse, built from 1791 to 1796. The courthouse is the oldest courthouse in continuous use in Maryland.



The statue of Queen Anne sitting in the middle of Courthouse Square, with the Queen Anne's County Courthouse behind it. The statue of Queen Anne was dedicated in 1977 and is the only statue of her outside of England.



Businesses on Commerce Street in front of Courthouse Square.



Businesses on Commerce Street.



The town hall and newspaper office on Lawyers Row.



Looking down Lawyers Row from Liberty Street.



Houses on Broadway.



A house on Chesterfield Avenue.



Another house on Chesterfield Avenue.



A house on Glendale Avenue.



A mansion at the corner of Chesterfield Avenue and Broadway.