The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1869-02-06
baltimore.


Baltimore.
IT, csery ciizen OF the State il must he source
Of great satisfaction 10 witness the rapid strides
towards greatness which Baltimore city is making
lthAs mol been long since that city was consid-
cred but an inland Town, great, perhaps, as a
-four market, but in nothing else But to-day
il siards forth asserting its claim 81 one Of the
great commercial centres of the nation, and with
a rapidls increasing prosperity and business that
challenges other great cities TO look to their au-
rels ii they would not be ouistripped in the race
It's Influence ofthe great railroad lines GEN.
teling in Baltimore has only recently began to
exert proper or extended influence Certainly
these connections are important. The Baltimore
and Ohio road, climbing over mountains and riv
Els and passing through plains, is bringing 10 Bal
iiuora lac wealth Of the great West, lis mineral
resources and agricultural prodacts, and has
rlsced the Valley of the Mississippi in diree,
qonimunication with The seaboard. And the in
duanco of his great railroad line is yet but be-
qjonina 10 be felt Throughout all the States
q lhe Vest new railrods arc being built, all of
WHICH, when finished, will be bnt tributaries to
The Baltimore and Ohio road, so that its present
husness great as il is, is no criterion of its vast,
ness in coming years And tha; great achieve
menl Of the century, The Pacific railroad, which
j. noT making such gigantic strides over the
nogntaias and plains of our territories TO con-
acct ihe Atlantic with the Pacific, is but a con-
ipaH;ion u onr great road, and when II is COM
Fete'i, Baltimore must prove receptacle for
mach Of she produei Of the States bordering on
ihe Pacific coast.
The Northern Central railroad, also, is of vast
,apogianee 10 Baltimore, bringing il into direct
communication with the finest region of Penn
Yigauia- with tie coal fields Of the Allegany,
ti, lumber region OF the Susquehanna and its
tributaries, and with the vast agricultural region
known ~ the Cumberland Valley. This road
hle iten Of vast benefit to Baltimore, and is des-
iiaed 10 he of still greater, when its various pro-
Iosed Tanifcations are completed.
The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
road Is important, also, because it connects Bal
iinoTe with the North, and forms part of the
sresi line which connects it with the Atlantic
seaboard and brings il in easy communication
with the large cities Of New York, Philadelphia,
GoHion &c
These railroads are in active operation, but
others are projected which, when completed,
must be mighty adjuncts to the prosperity Of our
metropolitan city. The Western Maryland, the
Philadelphia and Baltimore Central, the Park
ton and Manchester, all these will be completed,
and vii! serve aa feeders to the city, pouring into
it, the produce Of !ine agricultural regions, and
froportiona'ely enhancing its importance.
Baltimore is now connected with the countries
Vi the old World by regular lines of steamships,
with taiT Irqmise OF fptare increase and profit
The line 70 Bremen WAS established but a few
moaths aye, "a experiment, but 30 great has
ie, its sreye-s that tour large ocean steamers,
gununG constantly, cannot Keep up the business,
aGd another liue is seriously contemplated.
Tie population of Baltimore in 1860, less
than ten ytagys ago, was put down at 2l2, 1886.
According 10 The eensus taken last month it is
352 1876, an increase of l39. 800. During par,
q these nine years, the country was engaged in
FreS war, and it ia perfectly reasonable to con-
clude to II during the FIVE years OF the war very
few, II am, were added to the inhabitants of the
last four years.
And now we reach point of inquiry impor-
iant 10 our county people. If the ratio of popu-
lslion continues 30 great how long can Balti-
more city be contained within Its present limits
" have seen the calculations upon this subject
made by an eminent citizen of this county, once
Mayor OF the city, and be concludes that the
population OF the city in 1880 must be beyond O
million. The present territory Of the city is moi
}aTge enough 10 contain 90 great a population and
hence it follows that those portions of the county
contiguous TO the city mast become part Of ii, and
be closely BUILT up ard populated. We already
sec streets Of the city stretching far ont into the
country and there are now numbers of county
residences supplied with gas and water from the
city reservoirs. AS Baltimore increases in wealth
and population, proportonately will our popu.
iaiion increase and our property enhance in val
nc. There is now property around the city worth
thousands Of dollars per acre, and even land four
CT five miles from it, which, u dozen years ago,
was worth scarcely enough to pay the taxes on
it, is now beld al value surprising and unex.
pected. On the York road, within the last year
or two, large number OF houses have been erect.
ed, and il is clear than within the next decade
orr town viii become bnt suburb of Bal
timore, as Harlem is to New York or German
Town to Philadelphia. What is true of Towson-
town is also true of other towns around the city,
and the next ten years will witness growth Of
the country around the city, in wealth and pop.
alation surprising 10 all who have not closely
watched the progress now being made