History's layers

(Baltimore Sun) - It has been more than two years since a 50-foot piece of plaster molding came crashing to the floor of the Annapolis City Council chambers. Now that dusty chunk of the city's past has spurred the first comprehensive look-see at the Annapolis City Hall, where George Washington gambled and danced the night away.
Experts quickly determined that the molding ringing the chamber's 15-foot-high ceiling was a 20th-century adornment of little historical significance. Perhaps it was an attempt at Colonial revival design.
It seems to have been one of many poorly documented additions, expansions and alterations over the years that contribute to what one local historian called a "mishmash" of styles. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress