I'm in Havre de Grace: northeast corner of the map, just before the Susquehanna River. I believe (you can correct me if I'm wrong) that the southern boundary of the urban area on that map is the railroad, the middle portion is Route 40, and the northern boundary is I95. So this confirms what I'd always suspected: that it was the combination of the train and the roads that shaped the southeastern portion of this county.
Here's Harford County in 1795. None of the Harford communities are marked yet, but if you look at the close-up, you can see that there was already a road going from Baltimore over the Susquehanna, through Havre de Grace. There was a ferry at that time.
Here's an 1822 map, sixteen years before the railroad was built. Again, a road through Havre de Grace. (Neither of these maps appears to be entirely accurate about the location of the road, incidentally.) Bel Air is on the map now.
And here's a much more accurate map of Harford County in 1858. There's still no bridge over the Susquehanna; the trains used a ferry at that time. But you can see the effects of the railroad: Aberdeen is starting to grow into a town, and other little towns are growing along the line. The map shows the network of roads connecting the railroad corridor with Bel Air. That hasn't changed, and the railroad still runs along the same tracks.
Dusk (who writes historical pieces, so I spend a lot of time with old maps)
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Date: 5 Feb 2020 04:10 (UTC)I'm in Havre de Grace: northeast corner of the map, just before the Susquehanna River. I believe (you can correct me if I'm wrong) that the southern boundary of the urban area on that map is the railroad, the middle portion is Route 40, and the northern boundary is I95. So this confirms what I'd always suspected: that it was the combination of the train and the roads that shaped the southeastern portion of this county.
Here's Harford County in 1795. None of the Harford communities are marked yet, but if you look at the close-up, you can see that there was already a road going from Baltimore over the Susquehanna, through Havre de Grace. There was a ferry at that time.
Here's an 1822 map, sixteen years before the railroad was built. Again, a road through Havre de Grace. (Neither of these maps appears to be entirely accurate about the location of the road, incidentally.) Bel Air is on the map now.
And here's a much more accurate map of Harford County in 1858. There's still no bridge over the Susquehanna; the trains used a ferry at that time. But you can see the effects of the railroad: Aberdeen is starting to grow into a town, and other little towns are growing along the line. The map shows the network of roads connecting the railroad corridor with Bel Air. That hasn't changed, and the railroad still runs along the same tracks.
Dusk (who writes historical pieces, so I spend a lot of time with old maps)