Maryland lies precariously between the dividing line of the "old south" and original northern states.
Ironically, today the state's geographically southern counties (Montgomery, Prince George's, and Charles) are more likely to identify as northern and urban, whereas much of the state's more physically northern jurisdictions (i.e. Eastern Shore, Western Maryland) are more likely to still identify with Maryland's southern & agrarian roots. Go figure.
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln quickly declared martial law over Maryland, whose "center" status meant the state might very well have joined the Confederacy, leaving the Federal capital of the District of Columbia surrounded and cut off from the rest of the Union. While West Berlin managed to survive that ordeal for several decades during the Cold War, many historians are doubtful Washington would have had the same luck in the 1860s.
Ironically, today the state's geographically southern counties (Montgomery, Prince George's, and Charles) are more likely to identify as northern and urban, whereas much of the state's more physically northern jurisdictions (i.e. Eastern Shore, Western Maryland) are more likely to still identify with Maryland's southern & agrarian roots. Go figure.
Maryland's geographic placement among the original 13 states as well as the fact that the state's official theater house (we have one of those, yes) is named Center Stage is how the name Center State came about. Welcome to Center State Politics.
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