BALTIMORE CITY, MARYLAND

HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

[photo, Fells Point historical marker, Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland]
  • 1600 - 1699
  • 1700 - 1799
  • 1800 - 1899
  • 1900 - 1999
  • 2000 -


    • Fells Point historical marker, Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland, July 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    1700-1799

    [photo, Fell Family Cemetery, 1607 Shakespeare St., Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland] 1706, April 19. Whetstone Point (now     Locust Point) made port of entry.

    1729, Aug. 8. Baltimore Town established by charter; named after Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore.

    1730, Nov. 8. William Fell, an English carpenter and shipbuilder, purchased "Copus Harbor", 100 acres on the Patapsco, from Lloyd Harris and renamed it "Fell's Prospect" (now Fells Point).

    Fell Family Cemetery, 1607 Shakespeare St., Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland, September 2019. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    1731. Baltimore Iron Works began ironmaking on Patapsco River.

    1732, Nov. 22. Jonas (Jones's) Town laid out.

    1745, Sept. 28. General Assembly combined Jones's Town and Baltimore Town.

    1749, March 16. First arson in Baltimore Town; fire killed six people at home of Greenberry Dorsey.

    c. 1750. Dr. John Stevenson (c. 1718-1785) shipped cargo of 1,000 bushels of grain, 15 barrels of flour, and 16 barrels of bread to Ireland, first in an export trade that spurred development of Baltimore.

    1752. John Moale (c. 1731-1798) sketched Baltimore Town.

    1755. French-speaking Catholics, or neutral French, arrived in Baltimore from Nova Scotia.

    1763. Fells Point was founded.

    1763, Sept. 22. First volunteer fire company, later Mechanical Company, formed in Baltimore.

    1765. Nicholas Hasselbach operated first printing press in Baltimore Town.

    1768, June 18. Proprietary Assembly law authorized move of Baltimore County courthouse and prison from Joppa to Baltimore Town, the new county seat.

    1769. First smallpox hospital in colonies established by Henry Stevenson, Baltimore.

    [photo, Thames St., Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland] 1773, June 28. General Assembly united Fells Point and Baltimore Town.

    1773. First Courthouse constructed at Baltimore.

    1773, Aug. 20. William Goddard (1740-1817) began printing Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser.

    1774, Aug. Baltimoreans shipped cargo of corn, rye, and bread to people of Boston.


    Thames St., Fells Point, Baltimore, Maryland, September 2014. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

    1774, Nov. 12. Freeholders and inhabitants of Baltimore Town and Baltimore County formed Committee of Observation, charged with observing conduct of all persons, and Committee of Correspondence as per 11th and 12th Resolves of Articles of Association adopted by First Continental Congress.

    1774, Dec. Mordecai Gist formed Baltimore Independent Cadets (later 175th Infantry Regiment).

    1775, May 10 - 1785. Mary Katharine Goddard continued publication of Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser.

    1775, July. Mary Katharine Goddard was named the first Postmaster of Baltimore, the first female postmaster in the colonies.

    1775, July 16. Congress adopted William Goddard's plan for Constitutional Post, the foundation of U.S. postal system.

    1776, Feb. Whetstone Point fortified and Fort Whetstone constructed (site of present-day Fort McHenry).

    1776, March. Whig Club formed in Baltimore.

    1776, July 9. News of independence reached Baltimore Town; Declaration of Independence printed in Dunlap's Maryland Gazette.

    1776, July 29. William Aisquith publicly read and proclaimed Declaration of Independence at Baltimore Courthouse before regular and militia companies under arms, per Committee of Observation resolution.

    1776, Dec. 20 - 1777, Feb. 27. Continental Congress met in Baltimore at Henry Fite's House.

    1777, Feb. 6. Tory Alarm; Continental Congress ordered Baltimore Town Battalion of militia to Eastern Shore, to suppress loyalist activities in Somerset and Worcester Counties.

    1777, Aug. 22. Fleet Alarm; citing invasion of enemy, Gov. Thomas Johnson ordered companies of Western Shore militia battalions to neighborhood of Susquehanna River in Cecil and Harford Counties.

    1777, Aug. 28. By this date, the Council of Maryland moved to Baltimore Town (having evacuated Annapolis during Fleet Alarm). Gov. Thomas Johnson and Council transacted business, sent and received correspondence, and issued military commissions from Baltimore.

    1777, Sept. 29. By this date, Gov. Thomas Johnson and Council returned to Annapolis.

    [photo, General Casimir Pulaski statue, 1942 (dedicated 1951), by Hans Schuler, Patterson Park, Baltimore, Maryland] 1778, March. Count Casimir Pulaski raised independent troops, Baltimore.

    1780. Baltimore became port of entry.

    1781, Sept. 17. American troops embarked from Fells Point, Baltimore, and sailed to Yorktown.

    1782. Baltimore boundaries extended west of Harris Creek.

    General Casimir Pulaski Memorial, 1942 (dedicated 1951), by Hans Schuler, Patterson Park, Baltimore, Maryland, September 2014. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    1782. Named for the Battle of Lexington, Lexington Market opened at Paca St. and Lexington St. on land donated by Gen. John Eager Howard.

    1784, March 1. By this date, Fells Point Market opened on land formerly owned by Edward Fell; later regulated by law (Chapter 33, Acts of 1785).

    1784, June, 24. Edward Warren at Baltimore made first balloon ascension in United States aboard balloon designed by Peter Carnes of Bladensburg.

    [photo, Lovely Lane Museum and Archives, 2200 St. Paul St., Baltimore, Maryland] 1784, Dec. Methodist Christmas Conference at Lovely Lane Chapel, Baltimore, established Methodist Episcopal Church in America.

    1785. German Evangelical Reformed congregation under Philip William Otterbein built church in Baltimore that later became the mother church of the United Brethren in Christ.

    1785, Aug. China trade began when John O'Donnell (1749-1805) arrived at Baltimore on the ship Pallas laden with cargo from Canton, China.

    1786, Oct. 5. Heavy rain caused Jones Falls to flood, drowning victims and inundating low-lying areas of Baltimore Town; damages and loss of property estimated at more than £100,000 specie.

    1787, May 21. Toll roads connecting Baltimore with Frederick, Westminster, Hanover, and York authorized by General Assembly (Chapter 23, Acts of 1787).

    Lovely Lane Museum & Archives (site of Methodist Christmas Conference), 2200 St. Paul St., Baltimore, Maryland, April 2007. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    [photo, 1787. Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Society of Friends (Quakers), condemned slavery.

    1787. African Americans formed Sharp Street Methodist Church, Baltimore.

    1788, May 1. Parade and festival (following ratification of federal Constitution) gave name to Federal Hill, Baltimore.

    "We the People" mural, St. Paul St. & East Lafeyette St., Baltimore, Maryland, September 2014. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    1789. Maryland Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Poor Negroes and Others Unlawfully Held in Bondage formed at Baltimore.

    1790, Aug. 15. By papal direction, Bishop Charles Walmsley consecrated John Carroll (1735-1815) as bishop of Baltimore, at St. Mary's Chapel, Lulworth Castle, Dorset, England.

    1793. Refugees from Haitian Revolution arrived in Baltimore.

    1794. First of many yellow fever epidemics struck Baltimore.

    1794, Feb. 17. Baltimore Equitable Society (now Baltimore Equitable Insurance), first fire insurance company in Maryland, formed.

    1795, Dec. 24. Bank of Baltimore established.

    1795, Oct. 25. John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870), author and statesman, born in Baltimore.

    [photo, USS Constellation, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland.] 1796, Jan. 27 - 1811, June 19. Samuel Chase (1741-1811) of Baltimore served on U.S. Supreme Court.

    1796, March 9. By this date, Baltimore Town and Fell's Point Directory published; Baltimore's first City directory was compiled by William Thompson and James L. Walker.

    1796, Dec. 31. Baltimore City incorporated: Baltimore Town became Baltimore City (Chapter 68, Acts of 1796).

    1797. Fells Point Market moved to Broadway at Pratt St. and renamed Broadway Market.

    USS Constellation, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, November 2009. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

    [photo, Cannons at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland] 1797, Sept. David Stodder's shipyard at Harris Creek, Baltimore, launched U.S. Frigate Constellation, first ship of U.S. Navy.

    1799. Construction began on Fort McHenry, Baltimore, named for James McHenry (1753-1816), Secretary of War, 1796-1800.

    1799, May 14. Alexander Martin established Baltimore American and Daily Advertiser at Fells Point.



    Cannons at Fort McHenry on the Patapsco River, Baltimore, Maryland, August 2010. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

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