History of the Adams-Ritchie House
The Adams-Ritchie House was built circa 1713 by John Adams, a native of Boston who had a long association of trading in Acadia. He had joined Sir Charles Hobby's regiment when it was raised in New England for the attack on Port Royal. After capture of the town in 1710, he left military life and began a thirty-year association with the newly renamed Annapolis Royal as merchant, realtor, collector of customs and councilor. He was one of the few stable civilian influences in the early days of the new English colony.
The house he built was originally a single storey of wattle and daub wall construction. On occasion, it was host to the provincial council in the years before 1749, when the seat of government was removed to Halifax. Georgian additions to the building in the late eighteenth century included the balanced wings and a second storey. It was owned during this period by members of the Ritchie family. John Ritchie, a Scottish-born merchant, had emigrated to Boston in 1770, but within a few years was living in Annapolis. He served as a member of the provincial assembly between 1783 and 1785, and was the first of that distinguished family name in the town. As seen in this photograph, the house had by 1880 become the premises for Arthur M. King's Annapolis Clothing Hall. In 1882, a three-story Victorian façade that extended to the street was added to the building. One hundred years later, this addition was removed to reveal the earlier structure inside. The Adams-Ritchie House, minus the wings, is now home to Leo's Café. (History courtesy of the Annapolis Heritage Society)
