streets and lanes, churches, market houses, and other public
buildings. The purchase money was paid directly to the owner of
the land. Purchasers were required to erect an improvement within
a specified period of time under penalty of forfeiture. The
proprietor's income came from an annual quit-rent of one penny,
which was charged to each lot.38

The Commissioners laid out Baltimore Town west of the Jones
Falls in the shape of an Indian arrowhead, with its point facing
west. It was traversed by three streets: Long Street (now
Baltimore Street) running east and west which was intersected at
right angles by Calvert Street and Forest Street (now Charles
Street). A number of paper streets and alleys were added, thereby
creating a gridiron bordered by sixty lots of one approximately
acre each39 (Figure 4) .

In 1730 lots were put up for sale and Charles Carroll, as
the owner of the property, had first choice. He took lot number
49, the prime waterfront property next to the wharf at the foot
of Calvert Street. Subsequent takers were charged a fixed price
of forty shillings for each lot and required to build a substan-
tial house within eighteen months. The lots toward the river were
all disposed of within a number of days but many reverted to
Carroll when the conditions of improvement went unmet, and some
interior lots failed to sell. During the ensuing decade and
through a number of resales, reversions and re-entries the lots
were eventually dispensed.40

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