the form of ground rents.85

The Fells borrowed this device from Thomas Harrison and
perfected it for the sale of residential building lots. Ground
rents were attractive to buyers in an era when money and credit
were in short supply because they reduced the capital required
for the purchase of land; since the leases were renewable the
buyers could make improvements without much fear of forfeiture.
Ground rents were attractive to sellers' in an era when securities
were in short supply in that they provided a safe passive
investment; since the leases were renewable the sellers need not
discount the price. By adding to the lease a covenant that a
substantial dwelling or business would be built on the land
within two years Ann Fell ensured that property leased from her
would either retain or increase its value, or revert to her.86

In 1773 the Assembly authorized the enlargement of Baltimore
Town to include eighty acres of land on the east side of town
including Plowman's Addition and Fells Point. Plowman's tract of
land lay east of the Falls and ran along the waterfront down to
Harford Run. It remained an open commons; improvement would not
come until after the Revolution.87

Fell's Point on the other hand was thriving. It contained
fully one-quarter of the houses in the vicinity and a coffee
house or hotel was open for b usiness. It rivaled the waterfront
west of the Falls as the town center. East Baltimore of that era
is depicted in Figure 10.88

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