On the Pennsylvania Line, I am doing an interview with a Baltimore Television Station about the Mason-Dixon Line.
All around parts of the Mason-Dixon Line, communities are observing the start of the 250th anniversary of the beginning of one of America’s most famous boundaries. The work by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, establishing the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, took five years, from 1763 to 1768. To settle royal land grants for the proprietors of the adjacent colonies, the skilled English surveyor-mathematicians measured out the boundary that had involved bitter quarreling and bloodshed.
To mark this special anniversary, places along the Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware boundaries have been conducting programs as there has been growing interest in the line’s history. As a result, I have done a couple of media interviews on the subject for Fox 45 Baltimore, and WYPR, a Maryland public radio station.
In Calvert, MD. talking about the the Line to a Baltimore Television Station, Fox 45.
Over the past several years there has been an enormous increase in the number of historical maps that are available online. These digital collections are a great aid for those of us seeking to understand the past, whether it is for a scholarly investigation, local history study, or genealogy project. While the maps, many centuries old, have been available in special collections repositories around the nation, the access was limited as trips to widely scattered archives created obstacles for most researchers.
Recently I needed to examine old drawings from Harford County, and I was able to easily access e-published renderings from a number of universities, historical societies, and libraries around the world.
There are a few helpful starting points, when accessing these primary sources. One of the best is Old Maps Online, an easy-to-use web portal to historical maps in libraries around the globe. It allows the user to search across a number of extensive collections, via a geographical search interface. Another strong one is the Library of Congress. The products can be downloaded and the scans, which are of high quality, can be magnified, in most instances. Some of repositories require you to register to get full access.
These and other research e-resources are revolutionizing the way we conduct historical research and are invaluable for those working in the past. Here are some sites for locating Harford County Maps online, as well as any other place you are examining.
Searchable on Old Maps Online, the David Rumsey Map Collection has Simon J. Martenet’s Map of Harford County, along with dozens of other digital products.
Old Maps Online also has Brown University Library’s C. P. Hauducoeur’s engraving of the head of the Chesapeake and Susquehanna River. Of course, many more are found via this web portal.
The Library of Congress has L. W. Herrick’s Map of Harford County from 1858 and Martenet’s 1878 Map. It also has T.M. Fowler’s 1907 birds-eye-view of Havre de Grace.
The Enoch Pratt Library has a subscription to the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. From the 1880s until about World War II, the cartographers for this company visited towns regularly to update drawings and produce sketches at a detailed scale of 1-inch to fifty feet. With these a researcher is able to observe the changes that took place with a dwelling or a community over generations. You need a Baltimore City Library card to access the database online.
Here is a link to a union catalog, an index, of all the Sanborn Maps published for Maryland.
Check these resources out the next time you are working on a project and need Harford County Maps. Regardless of where your inquiry takes you you will find many other maps of interest as you start searching these and other databases.
While spending some time in Gettysburg over the Memorial Day Weekend, we checked out a few out-of-the-way spots along the Mason Dixon Line, searching for unique view related to the history of this old boundary. I’m always searching for images to enhance my public and classroom lectures on the Mason Dixon Line. Here are a few of the photos we took over the holiday in spots between Gettysburg, PA and Cumberland, MD.
On the Mason Dixon Line in Western Maryland and Central PA.
“Humanizing the War of 1812: Telling the Untold Stories along the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail” is the theme of a National Park Service workshop taking place at Harford Community College on April 8th
Dr. Allen Taylor, a national author and university professor, will open the day long workshop with remarks about his recent research into the role of African-Americans during the War of 1812. The morning session includes a living history performance, as participants engage in a discussion about using costumed interpretations to express the perspective of African-American women. In the afternoon, break-out sessions include using research to uncover the untold stories of the war, making your interpretive program engaging and developing relevant programs for youth.
I will facilitate the panel on researching untold stories. That break-out includes Dr. Taylor, a State Archives representative, and other practitioners. The subject of telling what it was like for everyday people and underrepresented groups when the war came to the shores of the Chesapeake, is something I have focused my research on for a few years so I am looking forward to that discussion. I find that there is a growing interest in the stories of these groups and the narratives of everyday people, the accounts that did not usually make the newspaper or the history books.
The afternoon concludes with a session that concentrates on using the trail network to promote the untold stories at your site. Click here for more details. Joining the National Park Service in sponsoring this program are the Maryland Historical Trust and Harford Community College.
“Humanizing the War of 1812: Telling the Untold Stories along the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail” is the theme of a National Park Service workshop taking place at Harford Community College on April 8th