Settlements Established in 1750 - Towson, Maryland (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 114. Not illustrated. Chapters: Towson, Maryland. Excerpt: Towson, Maryland - The first inhabitants of the Towson region were the Susquehannough people who hunted in the area. Though their region included all of Baltimore County, their primary settlement was along the mouth of the Susquehanna River. Towson was settled in 1752 when two Pennsylvania brothers, William and Thomas Towson, began farming northeast of present-day York and Joppa Roads. William's son, Ezekial, started the Towson Hotel at York and Joppa Roads in 1768 to serve the increasing traffic of farmers bringing their produce and livestock to the port of Baltimore. The village became known as "Towsontown." Today a shopping mall is situated at the intersection of York Road and Joppa Road known as the "Towson Town Center"--but this name more likely reflects its location, in Towson, rather than being an homage to the original village name. In 1790, Charles Ridgely completed the magnificent Hampton Mansion just north of Towsontown, the largest private house in America at the time. The Ridgelys lived there for six generations, until 1948. It is now preserved as the Hampton National Historic Site and open to the public. On February 13, 1854, Towson became the county seat of Baltimore County by popular vote. The Court House, still in use, was designed by Dixon, Balbirnie and Dixon and completed within a year, constructed of limestone and marble donated by the Ridgely family, on land donated by Towson merchant Grafton Bosley. The Courthouse was subsequently enlarged in 1910 through designs for north and south wings by Baldwin and Pennington. Expansion in 1926, and 1958 created an H-shaped plan. From 1850 to 1874, another notable land owner / Amos Matthews, had a farm of 150 acres (0.61 km) that - with the exception of the 17-acre (69,000 m) largely natural parcel where the K...