The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1878-10-12
Dead Cities of MARYLAND.

A friend sends us the following,
which he cut from a late copy of a
Baltimore paper, to illustrate the
uncertainty of mems judgment in
selecting sites for great cities, and
to show how futile nature some
times is when pitted against enter
prise and money. The article will
be very suggestive TO many of our
readers:
There are dead cities which have
not only been abandoned, but them
selves have disappeared as com
pletely as Babylon-vanished like
the baseless fabric of a vision that
leaves not a wreck behind-Mary-
land herself has furnished the site
Of more than one of these phantom
boroughs, of which scarcely tomb
stone remains to mark the spot
where their former inhabitants were
buried.
For instance, there is the vener-
able city OF Saint Mary's, the CAPT
tai Of the province of Maryland,
where all the old time dignitaries
nsed to gather during the sessions
Of Court and Assembly and hold
high revels in their velvets and
laces. 1t is not an odd trick of
fortune that both jamestown and
Saint Mary's, the original capital Of
Virginia and Maryland should have
vanished so utterly from the face OF
the earth that the distinctest traces
we now have of them is the mellow
tilth and the darker color of the
waving grain over the places that
once were populous? Saint Mary's
was a city of great expectations.
Baron Cecilius had such hopes of
it that he esteemed a town lot with
in it's limits the best present which
he could make to his friends and fa-
vorites. Who would own a town
lot in St. Mary's now? The Protest
ant element was too strong for it
the planting interest preferred the
stronger lands of the Patuxent; the
centre of population moved rapidly
up the bay, and an irreverent Assem-
bly, suddenly decided that the capi-
tai should be removed to "Anne
Arundel town, upon the Severn"
The poor people of Saint Mary's
sent up quaint and pathetic Pc
tition to the Assembly not to destroy
Them. They offered to make roads, |
to establish ferry at Drum Point;
to run stage line from the Patux-
ent. They got down on their knees
to the Assembly almost, but with
out avail. The fiat had gone forth
the capital was transferred, and
Saint Mary's with its State House
and all, crumbled into undlstinguish-
able ruin.
Another city that was expected
to become the eastern shore rival of
Saint Mary's, and later of Annapo-
lis, and which, it as thought, could
not fail to become a great CONNER
clal emporium, so eligibly was it
situated, was the town on Tredavon
Greek, called Wilhamstadat, and
now known as Oxford. 1t had
much commerce at one time, and
many servants were landed there
and sold, and thousands of hogs
heads of tobacco were put on board
ships there.
And Elkridge Landing too. Do
the young men who 90 to catch
gudgeons at the Relay ever think
that ships used to sail mp that
stream from foreign ports, and that
the post town across the way was
once commercial emporium, the
rival of Annapolis and Joppa, and
the superior of Baltimore At one
time more tobacco was shipped
from EIkridge than from any other
port IN the State.
About 1850 the story goes, a
European capitalist came to Mary
land with money to invest in town