MARYLAND.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
Maryland, situated between the parallels of 37° 53. and
39° 44. north latitude, and the meridians of 75° 04. and 79°
33+. west longitude (the exact western boundary being yet
undetermined) is one of the upper tiers of Southern States.
Its boundaries are: Mason and Dixon's line on the north;
the State of Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean on the east; on
the south, a line drawn westward from the ocean to the
western bank of the Potomac river; thence following the
western bank of that river to its source; and on the west, a
line drawn due north from this source to Mason and Dixon's
line. Its gross area is 12,210 square miles, of which 9,860
square miles are land surface; the included portion of the
Chesapeake Bay, 1,203 square miles; Assateague Bay on the
Atlantic Coast, 93 square miles; with 1,054 square miles of
smaller estuaries and rivers.
The Chesapeake Bay ascends to within a few miles of its
northern boundary, dividing the State into the Eastern and
Western Shores.
The rivers, excluding mere estuaries of the bay, are the
Potomac, Patuxent, Patapsco, Gunpowder, Susquehanna,
Elk, Sassafras, Chester, Choptank, Nanticoke, Wicomico and
Pocomoke, all emptying into the Chesapeake Bay. Besides
these, the coast-line of the bay is deeply indented with a
multitude of creeks, coves and other estuaries, penetrating
the land in all directions, usually bearing the names of
rivers, and often navigable to some distance by vessels of
light draft. Perhaps nowhere else in the world is there a
coast-line proportionately so extensive, or any country offer-
ing such facilities for water transportation as tidewater
Maryland. Along the ocean frontier runs a narrow reef of
sand, inclosing and sheltering Synepuxent and Assateague
Bays, and giving inland navigation along the whole At-
lantic Coast of the State.
Maryland is divided into twenty-three counties, of which
Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick, Carroll, Balti-
more, Harford and Cecil form the north tier; Howard, Mont-
gomery, Anne Arundel, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles
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