48 HISTORICAL SKETCH

seventeenth century Maryland became one of the most progressive of
the colonies in the development of her natural resources.

Brickmaking was undoubtedly an important industry throughout
this period, and much corroborative evidence has been found in the
early records regarding this subject. In the Maryland Archives for
1637 and 1638 it is reported that a brickmaker sat in the Assembly,
and a letter from S. Cornwalleys¹ to Lord Baltimore the latter year
states that he is building a house with cellar and chimneys of brick.
In 1652 there is a record of an agreement² of a brickmaker to make
thirty-six thousand " Good Sound well Burn'd Bricks " in considera-
tion of three hundred acres of land on the Patuxent river.

These and other references show that brickmaking was a common
industry in early colonial days, and that the popular belief that bricks
were brought to America in large numbers for ordinary building pur-
poses is not well founded. A study of the ancient records and bills
of lading fails to afford a single authentic case of the importation of
brick, and it seems highly probable that the use of the term " English
brick " refers rather to the prevailing shape of the brick than to the
locality from which it came. Accounts show that many of the early
churches' of Maryland were constructed of this material as well as
the more pretentious residences.

The iron ore deposits of the Coastal Plain were also developed
during this period. In 1648 mention was made of the fact that pig
iron was worth £12 per ton, and that the facilities with which iron
could be mined and the cheapness at which fuel could be obtained on
the numerous watercourses enabled those engaged in its manufacture
to earn high wages. This fact doubtless attracted many to the shores
of the Patapsco, stimulated speculation in lands and exerted some
influence upon the location of the future city of Baltimore. In 1681
an act was passed imposing a duty on the export of iron.

The most important of the early maps of Maryland was made
during the decade succeeding 1660 for Lord Baltimore by Augustin

¹ Calvert Papers, I, p. 174.

² Md. Archives, Provincial Court, 1649-1657, p. 267.

³ Helen West Ridgely, " The Old Brick Churches of Maryland. " New
York, 1894.