Broadneck is the site of Anne Arundel County's first European settlement in 1649. The first settlers were
Puritans from
Virginia who were invited by
Maryland's proprietary ruler,
Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, to settle on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. They established a dispersed hamlet at the mouth of the Severn River which they called "Providence" or "Severn", centered on the north shore of the Severn, between Greenberry Point and Hackett's Point. It was abandoned around 1670 in favor of
Annapolis harbor. During this time, the area formed by Mill and Whitehall Creeks was known as "Broadneck", a name which later was applied to the entire peninsula. By the late 17th century, the hamlet of Providence had expanded up the Broadneck Peninsula, with plantations occupying much of the interior land. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the land use of the Broadneck area remained rural, supporting large plantations of tobacco and diversified crops. Annapolis served as the market center for these farms. The African-American community of Mulberry Hills was established after the Civil War for freed slaves who had lived and worked in the area prior to the war. Similar to Brown's Woods on the north shore of Mill Creek, Mulberry Hill was subdivided into approximately 5-acre subsistence farms. ==Communities==