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 Company 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.

    c. 1750. John Stevenson shipped cargo of flour 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.

    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, 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, March. Whig Club formed in Baltimore.

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

    [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, 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. Fells Point Market established.

    1787. Toll roads connecting Baltimore with Frederick, Westminster, Hanover, and York authorized by General Assembly.

    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.

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

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

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

    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.

    1792. African Americans formed Sharp Street Methodist Church, Baltimore.

    1793. Refugees from Haitian Revolution arrived in Baltimore.

    1794. First of many yellow fever epidemics struck Baltimore.

    1794. 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. Baltimore City incorporated: Baltimore Town became Baltimore City.

    1796, Jan. 27-1811, June 19. Samuel Chase (1741-1811) of Baltimore served on U.S. Supreme Court.

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

    1797, Sept. David Stodder's shipyard at Harris Creek, Baltimore, launched U.S. Frigate Constellation, first ship of U.S. Navy.

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

    [photo, Cannons at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland] 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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