The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1882-06-30
Misccllanrons.
From TIE Baltimore Uay.
The Four BaltimOres.
Historical sites ON the Bush and Gum
now der Rivers

Historical Sites ON the Bush and Gum
powder Rivers.
The observant traveller can hardly fail TO
have noticed on tho road from IIavrc de
| Grace to Baltimore the three railroad bridges
between Perryman's and Stemmer's run
| One crosses the Bush river, a second the Gun
powder, a third the Back river In the neigh.
borhood of these bridges were located the
| three Baltimorcs which preceded the erection
Of the present city in fact each of the spots
can be seen and identified from the cars with
out the lelst difficulty To explore the region
more thoroughly, however, will tax the pow
ers of Il good pedestrian, for horse is not
readily obtainable, and in many places travel
| by carriages is impracticable. But the pill
| grim, whose love of nature and Of history
does not lead him to look on fifteen miles of
walking as n physical impossbilily, may fol-
low the track hereafter described with plea
sure and editicaton amply compensatory for
| the toll involved.
SITE or THE FIRST BALTIMORE.
| The best point of dcbarkation from the
| Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore cars
| is mt Bush, on the river of the same name. On
arrival the site of the first Baltimore may be
at once deserted on point juttng out into
the river two miles southeast of the depot. -
To reach the spot, however, requires n wide
detour in the direction of Pcrrymansville. 1t
is to the Rev G.. A. Leakin, ofTrinily Church,
Baltimore, that THE Doy is indebted for the
complete elucidaton and identification ofthe
site and history of the Oldest of Baltimores
A clover field, few cedars musty tradition
and an ancient map, such were the materials
from which this able arch@ologist has built
up the fabric of n city as clean forgotten and
buried rs Pompeii, and presented il for con.
sideration. All that the spot presents to
| the eye of the tourist is grove ofCCdar trees,
| a clover field and few huge stones, forming
| the abutmcntS of the ancient wharf From
| hence there was a ferry to the south Of the
rivor, giving direct communication from the
| Northern to the Southern States. There were
no roadways in those day and the routes were
only indicated by notches on the trees.
One of the first queries in the mind of the
visitor will naturally be If, as stated there
was town here for forty years, which was
abandoned scarcely 200 years ago, why is it
| that so few yestiges remain, while a host of
historical spots are even now standing after
the lapse ofcenturies, my thousands of years.
| To this it may be answered that the first Bal
tmore was after all little more than village,
such as Pocomoke City or Port Deposit might
be in the present day. True it had court
house, but this has vanished completely -
The conclusion is that when the town was
condemned on account of the prevailing NAL
aria, which is even now n scourge in the
district, the bricks and other material were
either removed to the new site on FOrster's
Neck, on the Gunpowdcr river, orhave since
been utilized by dwellers in the locality and
so scattered as to be unrecognizablc.
AN ABANDONED CITY.
Although the influences of the miasmatic
air of the region could not but ultimately
prove fatal to the future of"Old Baltimore"
as II city, there were other influence, not less
potent in causing its abandonment. 1t had,
admittedyan excellent geographical position,
being but four miles from Chesapeake bay,
and it was also tavorably located in regard 10
supplies of food. The Bush river furnished
ineXhaustible fish resources, and wild fowl
flocked in thousands to its shores. But it did
not fill the conditions necessary for the de-
velopment of seaport. Ii was constantly
at the mercy of two tribes of Indians, who
ravaged the region without letsor hindrance.
Its harbor was being constantly slted up. by
the alluvial soil brought down by the Bush
river. Although the latter supplied water
in abundance, its tidal rise and fall were but
three feet, and there were no streams avail
able for supplying water-power for manufac
turing purposes. Lastly the locality furnish
ed nothing suitable for building operations
no STtilltc, lIoD vi lllllC StOHt-NhIc tHC
sluggishness of the current rendered effective
transportation out of the question.
This question ofthe filling up Of harbors
and rivers by alluvial mud or silt is one
which has decided the fate of many towns
besides "Old Baltimore" 1t has cxtnguish-
ed as seaports Rome, Tyre and Il number of
their kindred, and would long ago, but for the
"dredger" have closed the ports of London,
Bristol, Antwerp and Marseilles, in the Old
| World The process is illustrated before our
very eyes at this spot on Bush river and we
may see, later on, visible evidences of the
cause of the abandonment of the second and
third Baltmores, the harbors of which are
completely silted up and converted into
mud banks and morasses Here at Bush-river
railway depot we shall Immediately perceive
that the left bank of the river is curved and
clean scooped out, and the water beneath
it deep and troubled. On the opposite
bank there is large shallow area, project
ing nearly halfway across the river, per-
frctly still and covered with reeds. The
explanation is simple. The force of the
water sweeps against the left shore, washing
| il away, and the whole ofthe abraded matter,
being borne onward, meets the tidal flow from
the Chesapeake, with the result of being
"eddied' back to the opposite shore. There
the force of stream and tide are balanced, and
tranquil pool is formed, in which the
river deposits its load, year after year, CEN
fury after century Every river shows the
same effect. A hollow curve, steep banks ard
deep water on one side; convex curve,
shoal water and low banks on the other.
ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCH.
This, then, is one of the causes that oper-
ate to render Old Baltimore n thing of the
past Looking at it to-day the visitor finds
| il hard 10 conceive that il was ever tenanted
by community for forty long years. He is
much more likely to believe what residents in
the locality will tell him, viz: what it was
merely the camping-ground of a few set
] tiers But records remain which prove that