MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

• 10,000 B.C. - 1599
• 1600 - 1699
• 1700 - 1799
• 1800 - 1899
• 1900 - 1999
• 2000 -

Francis Scott Key plaque, Mt. Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 10 East Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland, September 2009. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1800 - 1899

---

A Baltimore merchant who moved to London, George Peabody became a philanthropist and diplomat. He established the first charitable foundations in America and England, and founded the Peabody Institute at Baltimore in 1857.

1801-1803. John Francis Mercer (Democratic-Republican), governor.

1802. Property qualifications for voting in local and State elections removed by constitutional amendment, granting suffrage to adult white males (Chapter 90, Acts of 1801, ratified 1802).

1802. Rev. Daniel Coker (1780-1846), who had been born into slavery as Isaac Wright and later escaped, ministered to black Methodists, Baltimore.

1803, Jan. 8. Viva voce voting at elections changed to voting by ballot.

1803, Dec. 24. Maryland ratified 12th Amendment to U.S. Constitution, providing for election of U.S. President and Vice-President by Electoral College.

1803, Dec. 24. Elizabeth Patterson (1785-1879) of Baltimore married Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860), brother of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), in Baltimore. Afterwards, Jerome Bonaparte returned to France in 1805 and married German princess Catharina of Württemberg in 1807; Elizabeth Patterson received a divorce in America in 1815.

1803-1806. Robert Bowie (Democratic-Republican), governor.

1804, April 20. Baltimore Water Company formed (chartered 1792).

1804. Gunpowder Copper Works, a mining operation, established by Levi Hollingsworth at Glen Arm, Baltimore County.

1806. Construction started for Basilica of the Assumption, America's first Roman Catholic cathedral. Designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), main section completed 1818.

1806. Maximilien Godefroy (1765-1838) designed first Gothic Revival structure in United States, St. Mary's Seminary Chapel, Baltimore (completed 1808).

1806, March 29. National Road authorized by Congress, eventually linking federally-funded Cumberland Road with privately-constructed Baltimore and Frederick Town Turnpike.

1806-1809. Robert Wright (Democratic-Republican), governor.

1807, Dec. 18. College of Medicine of Maryland, nation's first public medical school, chartered at Baltimore by the General Assembly.

1808. John Carroll (1735-1815) became Archbishop of Baltimore, first Catholic Archbishop in United States.

1808. John Dubois (1764-1842) established Mount St. Mary's College (now Mount St. Mary's University) in Emmitsburg.

1809. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) adopted modified rule of Sisters of Charity, established order in Emmitsburg.

1809. St. Joseph's College, Emmitsburg, founded.

1809-1811. Edward Lloyd V (Democratic-Republican), governor.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton statue, National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 339 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, Maryland, July 2016. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

1810, Jan. 7. Washington Cotton Manufacturing Company, Mount Washington, first in State, incorporated.

1811. Maryland Penitentiary (now Metropolitan Transition Center) opened in Baltimore.

1811. Work started on National Road.

1811, Sept. 7. Hezekiah Niles (1777-1839) began publishing Weekly Register, a national newspaper, in Baltimore.

1811, Dec. 11-1814, Feb. 10. William Pinkney (1746-1822) served as U.S. Attorney General.

1811-1812. Robert Bowie (Democratic-Republican), governor.

1812, June 18. United States declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

• Maryland in the War of 1812.

1812, June 27. Mob attacked Alexander Contee Hanson (1786-1819), editor of Baltimore Federal Republican, and party.

1812-1816. Levin Winder (Federalist), governor.

1812, Dec. 12. Thomas Kemp, Fell's Point, launched Baltimore Clipper Chasseur, later famous under command of part-owner and privateer Thomas Boyle.

1812, Dec. 29. College of Medicine of Maryland rechartered as University of Maryland, Baltimore.

1813. Hagerstown incorporated (Chapter 121, Acts of 1813, Dec. session).

1813, June 13. Chesapeake, first steamboat on Chesapeake Bay, traveled between Baltimore and Annapolis.

1813, Aug. 10. Gen. Perry Benson and local militia defended St. Michaels from British attack.

1813, Aug. 13. Maj. William H. Nicholson and his militia fought with British Col. Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith's forces at Battle of Slippery Hill, near Queenstown, until forced to retreat.

1813, Aug. 26. Gen. Perry Benson and his militia fought off British forces at Second Battle of St. Michaels, Talbot County.

1813-1814. British conducted raids on Chesapeake targets, including Havre de Grace.

1814, June 8-10. Commodore Joshua Barney (1759-1818) commanded Chesapeake Flotilla of barges and gunboats against British forces at First Battle of St. Leonard Creek, Calvert County. Battle ended with withdrawal of both fleets.

1814, June 26. Second Battle of St. Leonard Creek, Calvert County. British fleet bombarded by Barney’s Flotilla and American shore artillery. 36 vessels engaged with no clear victory. Flotilla withdrew to Benedict.

1814, Aug. 19. Under Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, British fleet sailed up Patuxent River. British troops disembarked at Benedict for attack on Washington, DC.

Peale Museum & Kurt L. Schmoke Conference Center, 225 North Holliday St., Baltimore, Maryland, Septmber 2008. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1814, Aug. 24-25. British army entered Washington, DC, and burned the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Library of Congress and other public buildings in Washington, DC. District residents fled to Maryland and Virginia. President James Madison first retreated to Virginia.

1814, Aug. 27-28. Fort Warburton (now Fort Washington) on Potomac River bombarded by British fleet.

1814, Aug. 31. Battle of Caulk’s Field, Kent County.

1814, Sept. 12. Battle of Baltimore began. Local militia repulsed British troops at Battle of North Point. British suffered heavy casualties, including death of Major General Robert Ross. Commemorated annually as Defenders' Day.

Battle of North Point Monument (dedicated 1815), Calvert St. & Fayette St., Baltimore, Maryland, June 2001. Photo by Diane F. Evartt. Monument was designed by Baltimore architect J. Maximilion Godefroy. Its female figure, four griffins, & the reliefs were created by Italian sculptor Antonio Capellano.

1814, Sept. 15. British forces retreated from Baltimore, ending the Battle and the Chesapeake Campaign.

Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine, 2400 East Fort Ave., Baltimore, Maryland, July 2016. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

1814, Oct. 14. British ships under Rear Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm left the Chesapeake Bay and sailed for Bermuda.

1814, Dec. 24. Treaty of Ghent signed at Ghent, United Kingdom of the Netherlands (now Belgium).

Terra Rubra, birth site of Francis Scott Key, Keymar, Maryland, September 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1815, Feb. 7. Battle of the Ice Mound, Taylor's Island, Dorchester County.

1815, Feb. 16. Treaty of Ghent ratified by U.S. Senate, ending War of 1812.

1815, July. Baltimoreans laid cornerstone for Robert Mills' Washington Monument (completed 1829).

1815, Sept. Baltimoreans laid cornerstone for Maximilien Godefroy's Battle of North Point Monument (completed 1825).

1816. Construction begun on U.S. Arsenal at Pikesville.

1816. Maryland section of National Road completed.

1816, June 11. Rembrandt Peale demonstrated gas lighting at his museum.

1816, June 13. Rembrandt Peale formed Gas Light Company of Baltimore, first gas company in country.

1816-1819. Charles Ridgely (Federalist), governor.

1817. Maximilien Godefroy (1765-1838), architect, began Unitarian Temple, Baltimore.

1817. Maryland auxiliary of American Colonization Society formed at Baltimore.

1817, Feb. 5. General Assembly incorporated Gas Light Company of Baltimore.

1817, Feb. 7. Gas Light Company of Baltimore lit first gas streetlamp in country at Market and Lemon Streets (now Baltimore & Holliday Sts.)

1817-1829. William Wirt (1772-1834) served as U.S. Attorney General.

1818. National Road completed from Cumberland to Wheeling, now West Virginia.

1818, Jan. 1. Savings Bank of Baltimore, first of its kind in State, chartered.

1818, June 2. Maryland Agricultural Society organized, Baltimore.

1819. Charles Goldsborough (Federalist), governor.

1819, March 6. In McCulloch v. Maryland, U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall interpreted U.S. Constitution to signify implied powers of federal government.

1819, April 2. John Stuart Skinner published at Baltimore, The American Farmer, first agricultural journal in United States.

1819, April 26. Independent Order of Odd Fellows organized in Baltimore.

1819, May 5. At First Independent Church of Baltimore, William Ellery Channing delivered sermon defining Unitarianism, which led to formation of American Unitarian Association in 1825

1819-1822. Samuel Sprigg (Republican), governor.

1822. Isaac McKim milled flour with steam power, Baltimore, first such operation in country.

1822. Araminta (Minty) Ross (later known as Harriet Tubman) born south of Madison, Dorchester County.

1822-1826. Samuel Stevens, Jr. (Republican), governor.

1824. Benjamin Lundy published at Baltimore the Genius of Universal Emancipation, an anti-slavery newspaper.

1824. Maryland Law Institute (now Francis King Carey School of Law) at University of Maryland, Baltimore, opened.

1824-1829. Chesapeake & Delaware Canal constructed through Cecil County to link Chesapeake Bay with Delaware River.

1825. Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, revisited Baltimore.

1825, Nov. 6. Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts (now Maryland Institute College of Art) held first exhibition, American manufacturing articles.

1826, Jan. 5. Jewish enfranchisement, religious qualification for civil office removed.

1826, Jan. 10. Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts (now Maryland Institute College of Art) chartered.

1826. Public school system authorized by General Assembly, but rejected by most counties at referendum.

1827, Nov. Concord Point Lighthouse, erected at mouth of Susquehanna River, went into service; one of oldest lighthouses in continuous operation on East Coast, oldest in continuous operation in Maryland.

1827, Feb. 28. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad chartered.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, 901 West Pratt St. (at Poppleton St.), Baltimore, Maryland, May 2013. Photo by Adam N. Wexler.

1828. Maryland and Virginia Steam Boat Company offered regular Baltimore to Norfolk service.

1828. Maryland Penitentiary directors appointed committee to recommend plans for expansion.

1828, Feb. 13. Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad chartered.

1828, June. Baltimore Shot Tower begun.

1828, June 13. Elizabeth Lange, Maria Balas, Rosine Boegue, and Theresa Duchemin opened Oblate School for Colored Girls (now Saint Frances Academy) in 5 St. Mary's Court, Baltimore.

1828, July 4. First earth turned for construction of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.

1828, Dec. Peter Cooper (1791-1883), Columbus O'Donnell (1792-1873), William Patterson (1752-1835), and others formed Canton Company, Baltimore.

1828-1829. Peter Cooper started Canton Iron works, earliest planned industrial area in country, at Canton, Baltimore.

1828-1848. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal constructed (reached Cumberland in 1850).

1829. Work began on Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad (completed to Pennsylvania line 1832).

1829. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Carrollton Viaduct, first masonry railroad bridge in country, crossed Gwynn's Falls.

1829. Mount Clare Shops, the oldest railroad manufacturing complex in the United States, established in Baltimore by Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

1829. Chesapeake & Delaware Canal opened.

1829, July 2. Elizabeth Lange, Maria Balas, Rosine Boegue, and Theresa Duchemin took their vows and established the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, first order of African-American nuns in Roman Catholic Church.

1829-1830. Daniel Martin (anti-Jackson), governor.

1830-1831. Thomas King Carroll (Democrat), governor.

1830-1831. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Ellicott's Mills Station, the nation's first railroad terminal, constructed.

1830, Feb. 12. General Assembly passed law limiting oyster harvesting in Maryland waters to state residents and prohibiting dredging.

1830, Feb. 25. Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, organized as State's first Jewish congregation, incorporated at Baltimore.

1830, May 22. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's first train car, a horse-pulled passenger car called "Pioneer," made first run from Mount Clare Station in Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills (now Ellicott City).

1830, Aug. 28. Race at Baltimore between Peter Cooper's Tom Thumb steam locomotive and a train pulled by horse on Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

1831. Heirs of John Eager Howard (1752-1827) donated land for parks to extend north, south, east, and west of Washington Monument, Baltimore.

1831, Feb. Maryland State Colonization Society formed in Baltimore.

1831, July 20 - 1833, Nov. 14. Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864) of Frederick served as U.S. Attorney General.

1831, Sept. 26-28. Anti-Masonic Party Convention (the first national political convention) met in Baltimore.

1831, Dec. 12-16. National Republican Party Convention met in Baltimore.

1831-1833. George Howard (anti-Jackson), governor.

1832. Swallow Barn, by John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870), published.

1832. Legislation prohibited oyster dredging.

1832. David Carroll and Horatio Gambrill bought Washington Manufacturing Company in Mount Washington, Baltimore.

1832, March 5. Baltimore and Port Deposite Rail Road chartered.

1832, March 14. Delaware & Maryland Rail Road Company chartered.

1832, March 14. In aftermath of Nat Turner (1800-1831) rebellion in Virginia, Maryland laws passed to restrict free blacks.

1832, May 21-22. First Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore.

1833. State Agricultural Chemist, first such in country.

1833. Monocacy Aqueduct, largest on the C&O Canal, completed.

1833, Oct. 19. Baltimore Saturday Visiter published story of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849): "Ms. Found in a Bottle," winner of $50 prize.

1833, Nov. 28. Under auspices of Maryland State Colonization Society, first settlers sailed on the brig Ann for Cape Palmas, Liberia.

1833-1836. James Thomas (anti-Jackson), governor.

1834. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad reached Harpers Ferry.

1834, March 24. Bank of Maryland failed.

Original Burial Place of Edgar Allan Poe, Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery, West Fayette St. & Greene St., Baltimore, Maryland, August 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1835. George's Creek Coal and Iron Company formed.

1835. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Thomas Viaduct, first multispan masonry railroad bridge in country, crossed Patapsco River at Relay.

1835, May 20-23. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore.

1835, Aug. 6-9. Baltimore mobs rioted following months of inaction in wake of Bank of Maryland's closure; damaged houses of bank directors and Mayor Jesse Hunt, among others.

1835, Aug. 25. Washington Branch of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad opened.

1835, March 15 - 1864, Oct. 12. Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864) of Frederick served as Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court.

1836. Piney Point Lighthouse, first lighthouse on Potomac River, was built by John Donahoo at Piney Point.

1837. Lonaconing Furnace established, first in nation to use bituminous coal and coke (instead of charcoal) to make pig iron.

1837. Whig-controlled General Assembly enacted law for popular election of governors and State senators, and rotated geographical districts of successive governors.

1837. Carroll County formed from Baltimore and Frederick counties.

1837, Feb. 12. Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864) wrote majority opinion in Charles River v. Warren Bridge case.

Statue of Roger Brooke Taney, State House grounds, Annapolis, Maryland, April 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1838. Voter registration system initiated in Baltimore.

1838. Howard District created from Anne Arundel County.

1838, Feb. 12. Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad Company formed.

1838, Sept. 3. Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in Baltimore.

1838, Oct. 3. Governor and State senators first elected by voters rather than by legislature (Chapter 197, Laws of 1836).

1839. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad extended line through Mount Airy Cut.

1839. David Carroll and Horatio Gambrill bought Whitehall Flour Mill in Hampden-Woodberry near Jones Falls and converted it into textile mill for cotton duck, canvas for ship sails.

1839, Oct. 20. Baltimore City Council established Male Central High School (now Baltimore City College).

1839-1842. William Grason (Democrat), governor.

1840, Feb. 1. Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (now School of Dentistry), world's first dental college, founded in Baltimore.

1840, March 18. Baltimore Steam Packet Company (Old Bay Line) chartered.

1840, April 2. Washingtonian Total Abstinence Society (Washingtonian movement, Washington Temperance Society) founded in Baltimore.

1840, May 5-6. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore. First convention at which a Party platform was adopted when delegates decided that federal government role not defined by U.S. Constitution should be decided by state government.

1840-1894. Susquehanna & Tidewater Canal linked Havre de Grace to Pennsylvania Canal at Wrightsville, Pennsylvania.

1841, Jan. Maryland College of Pharmacy (now School of Pharmacy) founded in Baltimore.

1842, Jan. Slaveholders' convention met at State House in Annapolis.

1842, Nov. 5. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad reached Cumberland.

1842-1845. Francis Thomas (Democrat), governor.

1843, July-1845, March. John Nelson (1791-1860) of Frederick served as U.S. Attorney General.

1844, Jan. Maryland Historical Society (now Maryland Center for History & Culture) founded in Baltimore.

1844, Feb. 29-March 31. John Nelson (1791-1860) of Frederick served as U.S. Secretary of State ad interim.

1844, May 1. First omnibus lines began operating in Baltimore.

1844, May 1. Whig Party National Convention met in Baltimore.

1844, May 24. Samuel F. B. Morse demonstrated telegraph line, sent first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought", from Supreme Court in Washington, DC, to Mount Clare Train Station in Baltimore.

1844, May 27-29. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore.

1845. Lloyd Street Synagogue constructed in Baltimore, first Maryland synagogue, a Robert Cary Long, Jr. (1810-1849), design.

1845, July 7-8. Seeking their freedom, a large group of slaves from Charles, St. Mary's and Prince George's counties reportedly led by Bill Wheeler and Mark Caesar marched toward Pennsylvania.

1845, Oct. 10. Naval School founded at Annapolis, when Department of the Navy established officers' training school at Fort Severn.

1845-1848. Thomas G. Pratt (Whig), governor.

1846. James Corner opened first transatlantic packet line, Baltimore to Liverpool.

1847. David Carroll and Horatio Gambrill bought Laurel Flouring Mill, converted it to manufacture textiles, and renamed it Mount Vernon Mill No. 1.

Frederick Douglass from "Strike for Freedom" exhibit, House of Delegates Office Building, Annapolis, Maryland, April 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1848, May 22-25. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore.

1848-1851. Philip Francis Thomas (Democrat), governor.

1849, Oct. 7. Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore.

1849. Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) escaped to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, fleeing slavery in Dorchester County.

1849. Josiah Henson (1789-1883), abolitionist and former Charles County slave, published his Life.

1849. Thomas Kensett, Jr. began canning oysters in Baltimore.

Tombstone of Edgar Allan Poe & Maria Clemm, Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery, West Fayette St. & Greene St., Baltimore, Maryland, August 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1849-1850 Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) served as U.S. Attorney General.

1850. Sun Iron Building, Baltimore's first all-iron structure, built.

1850, Feb 18. President St. Station (Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore Railroad) opened in Baltimore.

1850, June 3. Calvert Station (Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad), largest railroad terminal in country, opened in Baltimore.

1850. Naval School renamed U.S. Naval Academy.

1850, Oct. Chesapeake & Ohio Canal reached Cumberland.

1850, Nov. 4-1851, May 13. Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851 met in Annapolis.

1850-1860. Harriet Tubman made at least 13 trips into Maryland's Eastern Shore, leading more than 70 people to freedom on the Underground Railroad, and providing resources that allowed the freedom of at least 50 others.

1851. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad reached Oakland area.

1851, April 18-Aug. 19. Three-masted clipper, Seaman, built in Baltimore, established speed record for sail (94 days) from San Francisco to Cape Henry.

1851, June 14. Constitution of 1851 (2nd State constitution) adopted; Howard District recognized as Howard County.

1851, July 4. Baltimore City, as a governmental unit, separated from Baltimore County.

1851, July 7. Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933) born in Berlin, Maryland. His gospel song, "I'll Overcome Some Day," (1901) is considered the source for civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome."

1851, Sept. 11. William Parker, former slave from Anne Arundel County, resisted efforts of Edward Gorsuch of Baltimore County, Maryland, to recapture fugitive slaves at Christiana, Pennsylvania.

1851-1854. Enoch Louis Lowe (Democrat), governor.

1852. Martin J. Kerney introduced and later withdrew bill to aid parochial schools.

1852. Loyola College (now Loyola University Maryland), Baltimore, founded.

1852. Association of Maryland Pilots formed.

1852, April 24. Merchants and Miners Transportation incorporated in Baltimore to begin coastal shipping service.

1852, June 1-5. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore

1852, June 17-20. Whig Party National Convention met in Baltimore.

1852, July 27-29. Statewide convention of free blacks, Baltimore.

1852, Dec. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad lines reached Wheeling, Virginia.

1853. Henry Sonneborn, Baltimore, began manufacturing clothing.

1853. Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick Railroad organized, later became Western Maryland Railroad.

1854. Baltimore County seat moved to Towson Town.

1854. Chesapeake Bay survey revealed large number of oyster beds near Somers Cove in Tangier Sound.

1854-1858. Thomas Watkins Ligon (Democrat), governor.

1854-1859. Rise of Know Nothing Party; Baltimore riots named city "Mobtown."

1855. Philadelphia & Baltimore Central Railroad began construction.

1855. Mary Whitridge, Baltimore-built clipper ship, sailed from Cape Henry to English Channel in record-setting 12 days and 7 hours.

1855, Nov. 7. Know Nothing Party won elections.

1856. Camden St. Station (Baltimore & Ohio Railroad), Baltimore, opened.

1856, March 6. Maryland Agricultural College founded at College Park, first college in nation chartered expressly for agricultural experimentation and instruction.

1856, Sept. 17-18. Whig Party National Convention met in Baltimore.

1856, Oct. & & Nov. 4. Election violence, known as Know Nothing Riots, took place in Baltimore.

1857. Baltimore gentlemen formed Maryland Club.

1857. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864) wrote majority opinion in case of Dred Scott v. Sanford.

George Peabody (1795-1869) statue (1869), by William W. Story, before Peabody Institute, Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, Maryland, March 2009. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

A Baltimore merchant who moved to London, George Peabody became a philanthropist and diplomat. He established the first charitable foundations in America and England, and founded the Peabody Institute at Baltimore in 1857.

1858-1862. Thomas Holliday Hicks (Know Nothing), governor.

1859, July 26. First Baltimore horsecar line, began operating from Broadway to Baltimore St. and North Ave.

1859, Oct. 5. Maryland Agricultural College (now University of Maryland) opened at College Park, Prince George's County.

Kennedy Farmhouse, 2406 Chestnut Grove Road, Sharpsburg, Maryland, October 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1860, March 7. General Assembly passed Jacobs bill to enslave free blacks, but measure failed referendum.

1860, May 9. Constitutional Union Party formed in Baltimore.

1860, June 18-23. Democratic Party National Convention (first assembled at Charleston, South Carolina, April 23 - May 3, 1860) reconvened in Baltimore

1860, Oct. 19. Druid Hill Park opened, Baltimore.

1860, Nov. In presidential election, Maryland voters gave John C. Breckinridge (Southern rights Democrat) 42,482 votes, John Bell (Constitutional Union) 41,760, Stephen A. Douglas (popular sovereignty Democrat) 5,966, and Abraham Lincoln (Republican) 2,294.

1861. Peabody Institute (later west wing) opened in Baltimore.

1861, April 22. Union troops under Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler occupied Annapolis.

1861, April 26. "Maryland, My Maryland", by James Ryder Randall (1839-1908), published in New Orleans.

Civil War re-enactors, Carroll County Farm Museum, Westminster, Maryland, May 2005. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1861, April 27. President Abraham Lincoln suspended writ of habeas corpus between Washington and Philadelphia.

1861, May 5. Union Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler (1818-1893) occupied Relay with troops to guard Thomas Viaduct, only rail link from north to Washington, DC.

1861, May 13. Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Union forces occupied Baltimore and declared martial law.

1861, May 27-28. Sitting on circuit, Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney (1777-1864) called in vain for release of John Merryman.

1861, June 13. Congressional elections returned Unionist delegation.

1861, June 27. Military arrested Baltimore's Marshall of Police George P. Kane and imprisoned him at Fort McHenry. Police Commission suspended.

1861, July 1. Military arrested Baltimore's Police Commissioners and imprisoned them at Fort McHenry.

1861, Sept. 11. Secretary of War Simon Cameron ordered arrest of secessionist members of General Assembly.

1861, Sept. 12. Federal troops arrested Baltimore City Mayor George W. Brown and imprisoned him at Fort McHenry.

1861, Sept. 17. Federal troops and Baltimore police in Frederick arrested members and officers of General Assembly who were Confederate sympathizers.

1861, Nov. Voters defeated states' rights candidate for governor, Benjamin Chew Howard.

1862. Harriet Tubman (c. 1820-1913) moved to Beaufort, South Carolina (then occupied by federal forces), aiding slaves in transition to freedom, as well as acting as a spy and scout for the Union.

1862, Jan. 5-6. Confederate artillery under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson bombarded Brig. Gen. Frederick W. Lander's Union forces at Battle of Hancock. Unsuccessful in taking town, Confederates withdrew to Virginia, Jan. 7, 1862.

1862, May 23. Marylanders opposed one another at Battle of Front Royal.

1862, June 16. Confederate cavalry entered Cumberland.

1862, Aug. 17. Hammond General Hospital for Union Army patients opened at Point Lookout.

1862, Sept. 14. Battle of South Mountain. Union troops from Army of the Potomac forced Confederates from Army of Northern Virginia out of Crampton's Gap, Fox's Gap, and Turner's Gap.

1862, Sept. 17. Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg). Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan fought Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Gen. Robert E. Lee in bloodiest one-day battle in American history. Though Antietam was technically a draw, President Abraham Lincoln took the opportunity on Sept. 22, 1862 to issue a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that slaves held in rebel states would be free Jan. 1, 1863.

1862, Oct. 10-12. Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gen. James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart rode through Washington, Frederick and Montgomery counties during Chambersburg Raid to Pennsylvania.

1862-1866. Augustus W. Bradford (Unionist), governor.

1863. Harriet Tubman (c. 1820-1913) recruited former slaves to act as spies and scouts for federal forces.

1863. To protect Washington Aqueduct, Fort Alexander, Fort Franklin, and Fort Ripley, built as earthwork defenses in 1861, expanded and joined as Fort Sumner at Bethesda.

1863. Union prison camp at Point Lookout, St. Mary's County, established for Confederate prisoners.

1863, June 29. Union Capt. Charles Corbit led Companies C and D of 1st Delaware Calvary in unsuccessful charge against Confederate Maj. Gen. James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart's Cavalry Division at Westminster. Confederate Cavalry stopped at Union Mills on way to Pennsylvania.

1863, late June- early July. Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia passed through Washington County en route to Gettysburg and in retreat.

1863, July 1-3. Maryland troops fought at Battle of Gettysburg.

Maryland Monument, Gettysburg Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, August 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1864, April 18. President Abraham Lincoln addressed Baltimore Sanitary Fair, organized by Maryland women for U.S. Sanitary Commission.

1864, April 27-Sept. 6. Constitutional Convention of 1864 met in Annapolis.

1864, June 7-8. National Union Party [Republican Party] National Convention met in Baltimore.

1864, July 6. Hagerstown held for ransom by Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal Early.

1864, July 9. Frederick held for ransom by Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal Early.

1864, July 9. At Battle of Monocacy (Battle That Saved Washington), Confederate army under Lt. Gen. Jubal Early defeated Union troops under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace.

1864, July 10. Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's Confederate forces marched from Frederick towards Washington, DC, but due to delay from Battle of Monocacy, Union reinforcements arrived in time to bolster Capital defenses.

1864, July 11. Gov. Augustus W. Bradford's home at Towson burnt by Confederate troops.

1864, Oct. 12-13, 29. Gov. Bradford declared Constitution of 1864 (3rd State constitution) adopted after soldiers' vote was added to election totals. Soldiers' vote assured adoption of 1864 constitution, which abolished slavery (effective Nov. 1) and required strict loyalty oath of voters. A test oath was required of all voters.

1864, Nov. 1. Maryland slaves emancipated by State Constitution of 1864. To celebrate, under direction of Baltimore City Council, five hundred guns were fired, bells were rung, and flags displayed "to attest the joy of the people at their great deliverance."

1865. Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company, first black-owned business in State, established in Baltimore by Isaac Myers.

1865. First statewide voter registration system in Maryland.

1865, Feb. 3. Maryland ratified 13th Amendment to U.S. Constitution.

1865, March 22. By Maryland law, oyster harvesters required to buy annual permits.

1865, April 14. John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, and escaped through Prince George's and Charles counties.

1865, April 21. In an effort to elude federal soldiers and get to "friendly" ground, John Wilkes Booth and David E. Herold rowed from near Newburg (Charles County) across Potomac River to Virginia.

1865, April 26. Following a 12-day manhunt, John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) was shot and killed in Port Royal, Virginia; later buried in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore. After a trial with other conspirators in Washington, DC, David E. Herold was hanged on July 7, 1865.

1865, Oct. Frederick Douglass (c. 1818-1895) dedicated Douglass Institute named in his honor, Baltimore.

1865, Dec. 25. First train of Philadelphia & Baltimore Central Railroad departed Rising Sun, Cecil County.

1865-1959. Oyster Wars; Maryland and Virginia watermen fought on Chesapeake Bay.

1866, Nov. 4. First train of Eastern Shore Railroad - Crisfield Branch arrived at Somers Cove, Somerset County.

1866, Aug. 20. National Labor Union, the first national labor union in America, organized in Baltimore and lobbied Congress to authorize an eight-hour work day.

1866-1869. Thomas Swann (Unionist Democrat), governor.

1867. Wicomico County created from Somerset and Worcester counties.

1867. Lavinia Dundore organized Maryland Equal Rights Society in Baltimore to work for suffrage.

1867, March 23. Maryland voted to reject 14th Amendment to U.S. Constitution.

1867, May 8-Aug. 17. Constitutional Convention of 1867 met in Annapolis; Democrats rewrote constitution.

1867, Sept. 18. Constitution of 1867 (4th State constitution) adopted by voters.

1867, Nov. 27. Centenary Biblical Institute (now Morgan State University) chartered under auspices of Methodist Episcopal Church.

1867, Nov. 27. Knights of Pythias formed in Baltimore.

1868. Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) chartered by Methodists (organized 1866), the first coeducational school south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

1868. Regular steamship service between Baltimore and Bremen inaugurated by Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and North German Lloyd.

1868, March 30. State Oyster Police (now Maryland Natural Resources Police) authorized.

1868, Sept. Maryland School for the Deaf opened at Frederick.

1869. Arthur Pue Gorman (1839-1906) won seat in House of Delegates.

1869. Wendel A. Bollman (1814-1884) built iron truss bridge for Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Savage.

1869, July. Isaac Myers (1835-1891) and black caulkers in Baltimore formed national black labor union.

1869-1872. Oden Bowie (Democrat), governor.

1870. University of Maryland School of Law reopened.

1870, Feb. 26. Maryland voted to reject 15th Amendment to U.S. Constitution.

1870, May. Baltimore African Americans paraded to celebrate passage of 15th Amendment to U.S. Constitution.

1870, Oct. 27. Maryland Jockey Club sponsored racing at Pimlico track.

1872. Maryland Hospital for the Insane (now Springfield Hospital Center) moved from Baltimore City to Catonsville.

1872. Western Maryland Railroad completed line, Hagerstown to Baltimore.

1872, April 1. General Assembly mandated separate, segregated public schools for white and black students.

1872, July 9-10. Democratic Party National Convention met in Baltimore.

1872, Dec. 4. Garrett County formed from Allegany County.

1872-1874. William Pinkney Whyte (Democrat), governor.

1873, April. William H. Butler, Sr. (c. 1829-1892), elected as Annapolis Alderman, first African American to hold elected office in Maryland.

1873. Metropolitan Branch of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad ran from Washington, DC, northwest through Montgomery County to Point of Rocks.

1873, May. Allegany County coal miners established Miners and Laborers Protective and Benevolent Association.

1873, May 23. First Preakness Stakes, second race of Triple Crown, held at Pimlico Race Course.

1873, July. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad opened Deer Park Hotel , Garrett County.

1873, Sept. 21. School Sisters of Notre Dame established in Baltimore Notre Dame of Maryland Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies (now Notre Dame of Maryland University), first Catholic women's college in United States.

1874, March 30. Commissioners of Fisheries authorized.

1874-1876. James Black Groome (Democrat), governor.

1875, July 4. Atlantic Hotel, first hotel in Ocean City, opened.

1875, Oct. 25. Designed by Baltimore architect George A. Frederick, new Baltimore City Hall dedicated, replacing old city hall in Peale Building (former Peale Museum).

1876. Railroad/carriage trestle crossed Sinepuxent Bay at Ocean City.

1876, Oct. 3. The Johns Hopkins University opened in Baltimore, founded by philanthropist Johns Hopkins.

1876-1880. John Lee Carroll (Democrat), governor.

1877, Jan. 16. Maryland-Virginia boundary in lower Chesapeake Bay demarcated by Black-Jenkins Award.

1877, July 20-22. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad strike; workers went on strike along line, demonstrated in Cumberland, struck and rioted at Baltimore.

1878. Knights of Labor organized, Baltimore.

1878, June. William Brooks with The Johns Hopkins University established Chesapeake Zoological Laboratory at Fort Wool, Hampton Roads, Virginia.

1878, Aug. Young men of Baltimore Athletic Club returned from Newport, Rhode Island, with lacrosse sticks.

1878, Sept. 2-1889, Sept. 3. Male and Female Colored School no. 1, first Baltimore high school for African Americans, held in old City Hall (former Peale Museum).

1879. Maryland House of Correction opened at Jessup.

1880. Electrical energy debuted in Maryland at Sun Building, Baltimore.

1880-1884. William T. Hamilton (Democrat), governor.

1881, Sept. Baltimore Medical College and its teaching facility, Maryland General Hospital (now University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus), incorporated (merged with University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1913).

1881, Oct. 10-12. Oriole Festival, an event similar to Mardi Gras, celebrated opening of Loch Raven Reservoir.

1882. Baltimore reformers won "good judges" election.

1882. Baltimore Orioles, owned by Harry R. Von der Horst, founded as a team in newly-formed American Association professional baseball league.

1882. Hospital for the Women of Maryland, 2nd women's hospital in nation, opened in Bolton Hill, Baltimore (closed & consolidated in 1960 with Presbyterian Eye, Ear & Throat Charity Hospital to form Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Baltimore County).

1882. University of Maryland opens Dental Department (now School of Dentistry).

1883. Colored High and Training School (now Frederick Douglass High School) opened, Baltimore.

1883. Baltimore Federation of Labor organized.

1883, June. Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company formed.

1884. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad opened 22-sided polygonal Passenger Car Shop (now Roundhouse), Baltimore, a design by E. Francis Baldwin and largest circular industrial building in world.

1884. General Assembly, pressured by Knights of Labor, created Bureau of Industrial Statistics and Information (now Division of Labor & Industry).

1884-1885. Robert M. McLane (Democrat), governor.

1885. Baltimore civic leaders established Baltimore Reform League.

1885. African-American leaders established Mutual Brotherhood of Liberty, Baltimore's first civil rights organization.

1885. Woman's College of Baltimore (now Goucher College) chartered by Methodists.

1885. Bryn Mawr School, Baltimore, founded by Martha Carey Thomas (1857-1935).

1885, Aug. 10. Baltimore to Hampden Line of Baltimore-Union Passenger Railway Company converted from horse-drawn to electric streetcars, first commercial electric street railway in country.

1885-1888. Henry Lloyd (Democrat), governor.

1886. Linotype machine perfected by Ottmar Mergenthaler, Baltimore.

1886. Maryland Progressive State Colored Teachers Association formed.

1886, Jan. 5. Enoch Pratt Free Library, the gift of Enoch Pratt, opened in Baltimore.

1887. Pennsylvania Steel Company built blast furnaces at Sparrows Point.

1887. Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., designed summer retreat, Sudbrook Park, near Pikesville.

1888. Voters north and west of Baltimore City agreed to annexation.

1888. Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station established at College Park.

1888, Oct. Maryland flag of Calvert and Crossland colors flown at monument dedication ceremonies, Gettysburg.

1888-1892. Elihu E. Jackson (Democrat), governor.

1889, May. Floodwaters inundated Cumberland.

1889, Jan. 11. Maryland Woman Suffrage Association formed by Caroline Hallowell Miller in Sandy Spring.

1889, May 7. The Johns Hopkins Hospital dedicated in Baltimore.

1889, Dec. 14. Maryland University Hospital Training School for Nurses (now University of Maryland School of Nursing) opened at Baltimore.

1890. Morgan College (now Morgan State University) formed from Centenary Biblical Institute.

1890. German-born population of Baltimore City peaked (41,930 of 365,863).

Henrietta Szold (1860-1945) sculpture, by Dina Lee Steiner (1989), Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd St., Baltimore, Maryland, September 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1890, Jan. 25. Columbian Iron Works and Drydock in Baltimore launched SS Maverick, first bulk oil tanker ship built in United States, for Standard Oil of New York.

1891. Steel plant constructed by Pennsylvania Steel Company at Sparrows Point incorporated as Maryland Steel Company.

1892. Charles H. Grasty (1863-1911) assumed control of Baltimore News.

1892. State Weather Service established.

1892. U.S. Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada (1846-1917) developed Chevy Chase.

1892, Aug. 13. Baltimore Afro-American founded by John H. Murphy, Sr.

1892, Dec. Sheppard Asylum for the mentally ill (now Sheppard-Pratt Hospital) founded by Moses Sheppard, opened to patients.

1892-1896. Frank Brown (Democrat), governor.

1893. Women's College of Frederick (now Hood College) founded.

1893, Oct. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine opened in Baltimore, accepting women.

1894. First child labor law passed; first pure milk law passed.

1894. Baltimore women formed Arundell Club.

1894. Provident Hospital, Baltimore, founded by William T. Carr and William H. Thompson.

1894. Baltimore Orioles won their first professional baseball championship.

1894, May. "Coxey's Army," an "industrial army" organized by Jacob Coxey (1854-1951), encamped at Bladensburg and other Maryland sites after first march on Washington, DC.

1894, May 22. Maryland Hunt Cup, a steeplechase race, first run in Green Spring Valley.

1894, June. Frostburg coal strike.

1895. Maryland State Bar Association held first convention.

1895. Charles County seat moved from Port Tobacco to La Plata.

1895, Nov. Reformers carried Baltimore City and State elections.

1896. War Correspondents' Memorial Arch, the first monument to war journalists, built by George Alfred Townsend (1841-1914) at Gathland.

1896. Maryland adopted improved "secret" ballot.

1896. General Assembly ended practice of electing one U.S. senator from Eastern Shore; passed law restraining courts from compelling reporters to divulge their sources.

1896, July. Second Hospital for the Insane of the State of Maryland (now Springfield Hospital Center) opened at Sykesville.

1896-1900. Lloyd Lowndes (Republican), governor.

1896, April 4. Office of Game Warden established.

1897. Columbian Iron Works and Drydock in Baltimore launched Argonaut, first commercial submarine in nation.

1897. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., planned west side of Roland Park (company organized 1891).

1897, Feb. Maryland Public Health Association formed, Baltimore.

1898. Baltimore obtained reformed city charter.

1898. Grand National Steeplechase first run.

1898, July 3. Commodore Winfield Scott Schley (1839-1911) of Frederick and "Fly Squadron" fought at Battle of Santiago de Cuba.

1899. William B. Clark issued report on State roads.

1899, Jan. Baltimore Municipal Art Society formed to beautify public buildings, streets, and open spaces.

1899, March 28. Building program began at U.S. Naval Academy, Ernest Flagg, architect. Construction started with Dahlgren Hall, first building of "new" Naval Academy.

1899, Dec. 1. Maryland Federation of Women's Clubs organized at Baltimore.

1899, Oct. 18-1915. Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory as part of International Polar Motion Service began to measure variations in latitude caused by earth's wobble on its solar axis.

Maryland Archives
Maryland Historical Societies
Maryland Constitutional Offices & Agencies
Maryland Departments
Maryland Independent Agencies
Maryland Executive Commissions, Committees, Task Forces, & Advisory Boards
Maryland Universities & Colleges
Maryland Counties
Maryland Municipalities
Maryland at a Glance

Maryland Manual On-Line

© Copyright Maryland State Archives