The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1878-08-24
DEAD CITIES IN MARYLAND.
. hs Bai,i~ors Ee,-i.y B4ii,,ia.

The solitary Arab, wandering in the
burning wastes Of the Syrian desert,
come suddenly upon a walled town built
complete Of pink granite and marble
and prophyry. Temple and tomb are
there as well rs house and palace, for.
tress and granary, but the roofs and
windows are gone, and the city's gates
have long ago been unhingcd. The city
Is deserted and has no inhabitants at
all but the foxes that lurk under the fall
en- aTchways and the owls and bats that
iluttcr beneath the darkcned vaults, and
the Bedonin fees from the spot in dread,
invoking imprecations upon il as the
abode Of Sheitan, place accursed. II
is indeed city that has been dead per-
haps two thousand years, and the desert
contains many such weird spcctrcs Of
the populous past.
So the voyager in tropical seas, as he
coasts by islands which the earthquakes
have rent, but which betray no signs Of
il in their glowing beauty. may some
times look down through the clear waves
and see there below him, at the bottom
Of the diaphanous depths, the roofs and
spires Of sunken city, forty fathoms
under the wave. Such is Savannah Ia
Mar, which, with its ten thousanh peo-
pie all at their occupations and pleasures
and devotions went 10 the bottom one
quiet summer day, and has rested there
ever since, the sea-OoZc mantling its
palaces, and urchins and pOlyps the
citizens OF its voiceleSs streets
There are dead cities. however. which
have not only been abandoned, but
themselves have disappeared as complete
ly as Babylon-yanishcd like the base.
less fabric of a vision that leaves not \
wreck behind-and Maryland herself
has furnished the site Of more than one
OF these phantom boroughs. Of which
scarcely even tombstone remains TO
mark the spot where their former inhab-
iian,s were buried.
For instance, there Is the venerable
city OF Saint Mary's. the capital OF the
Province Of Maryland, where all the old
time dign,aries used TO gather during
the sessions of court and Assembly and
hold high revels in their Velvets and Ia
ces. Is IT not an odd trick OF fortune
that both Jamestown and Saint Mary's,
the original capitals OF Virginia and
Maryland. should have vanished 20 ut.
terly from the face of the earth that the
distinCtesi traces We now have Of them
is the mellower iilih and the darker col.
or OF the waving grain over the places
that once were populous Saint Mary's
was a city of gteat expectations. Baron
Caccilius had such hope Of il that he
esteemed town lot within It's limits the
best present which he could make to his
friends and favorites. Who would own
a town lot in Sain; Mary's now, The
Protestant element was too strong for II:
the planting lnicreS, preferred the strong
CT lands Of the Pa,uSen; the centre Of
the population moved rapidly up the
bay. and an irrevereni Assembly sud
denly decided that the capital should
bc removed to Anne Arundel town up
on the Severn The poor people OF
Saint Mary's sen, up quain, and
pathetic petition to the Assembly not
to destroy them. They offered to make
roads, TO establish ferry n Drum Point;
to run 4 siIgc line from the raiuNcn,
They got down ON their knees To the A..
sembly almost. hut wiihou, avail. The
fiat had gone forth the capital WAS
transferred. and Saint Mary's with It's
State House and all crumblcd into un-
disiinguishable ruin.
Another city that was expected To- bc.
come the Eastern Shore rival of Saint
Mary and later OF Annapolis. and which
II WAS thought. could not fail TO become
great commercial emporium. 80 eligi
bic was il situated. was the town ON
Tred Avon creek called Williams,ad,,
and now known A. Oxford. People are
said TO bc engaged in spcculating in town
lots in Oxford now, just a. they were in
1904, bu, ONford has never grown To bc
a city and probably will not, in our day.
IL had much commerce at one time. many
servants were landed there and sold and
thousands OF hogShcads of tobacco were
put ON board ship there. Hut after
awhile the factors who had warehouses
there removed to other ports. some 10
Annapolis, some to Chcsteftown. some
tn Elkridgc Landing. some to loppa,
and Oxiord-wc will not say died. but
went to sleep, like the beauty OF town
that il is.
And Elkridgc Landing, too. no the
young men who NO tn catch gudgeons
az the Relay ever think that ships used
To sail up that stream from ports. and
that the post town across the way was
once commercial emporium. the rival
OF Annapolis and Joppa, and the superior
of Baltimore ? Al one tins more tobac-
co was shipped from Elkridgc than from
any other port in the State. IL was the
port Of half Of Anne Arundel and Balti
more counties. Of Howard, Montgomery
and Frederick counties rolling roads
led To il in every direction. Il had fur
naccs and iron mills, stores and
warehouses-bu not even pungy
goes up to Elkridge now. The trade
ebbcd away from il, the river filed with
silt-Elkridge was a city no more.
About 1850, the story goes, Euro
pean capitalist came to Maryland with
money To invest in town lots. lie look
ell around him carefully examined the
harbors and inquired into the prospects
OF all our towns. Annapolis, Rlkridge,
Baltimore, &c., and, after hcsitating a
good while between Joppa and Chester
town, put his money to rest in Charles
kOsoa, for that, he was sure, was to be
the coming great city. Can the reader
tell us where Charlestown was He will
not find il on the maps yet il was laid
out for very great city in I743, at a
place called Long Point, on the west
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