Mapping Maryland's Counties - Enoch Pratt Free Library

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Collection Location: Maryland Department Map Collection, Enoch Pratt Free Library / State Library Resource Center

Collection Overview: On June 20, 1632, Charles I, King of England, granted the Charter of Maryland to Caecilius Calvert, second Baron of Baltimore. That auspicious day in the history of Maryland took place just two months after the death of Cecil's father, George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore. After becoming the first Lord Baltimore in 1625 George Calvert had petitioned the King for a grant of land north of the Potomac River. King Charles had agreed but George died before he could see the fruits of that petition.

Due to land disputes with neighboring states the original boundaries of Maryland set forth in the charter are a bit different from her present day boundaries, particularly as pertains to the Eastern Shore area. The northernmost boundary started at the fortieth parallel, or forty degrees north of the equator. The southernmost boundary was primarily water bound by the Potomac River and crossed over the Chesapeake Bay to the Eastern Shore just south of Watkins Point, leaving the lower tip of the Shore in Virginia. The westernmost boundary of Maryland dropped in a perpendicular line from the fortieth parallel to the mouth of the Potomac River. The easternmost boundary dropped from the fortieth parallel along the tributary that feeds into the Delaware Bay and along the coast at the Atlantic Ocean including land that is now part of Delaware.

Like so many cells dividing, Maryland's seven original counties (St. Mary's, Kent, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Talbot, and Somerset), over the state's 370-year history, have evolved  into 23 counties and the City of Baltimore. The selection of maps in this collection provides snapshots of the growth and development of Maryland's counties and the City of Baltimore.

Quick facts about the counties:

Source: Maryland State Archives Reference & Research, http://guide.mdsa.net/viewer.cfm?page=counties.

Related Material:

Charles I, King of England. The Charter of Mary Land. http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/educ/exhibits/founding/html/charter.html.

Maryland State Archives. "Historical Chronology." Maryland Manual On-Line: A Guide to Maryland Government. http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/chron/html/chron.html.

Papenfuse, Edward C. & Coale, Joseph M., III. The Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.