Descriptive Cataloging

Cartographer: Thomas H. Poppleton [lower left corner] 

Title: This Plan Of The City of Baltimore as enlarged & laid out under the direction of the
Commissioners Appointed By The General Assembly Of  Maryland In Feby. 1819- Respectfully Dedicated to the Citizens There of  By their Obt. Servt. T. H. Poppleton. Surveyor to the Board. Public Buildings &c. Engrvd. by J. Cone. First edition.

Scale: Bar scale indicates 2500 feet. 

Engraver: Charles P. Harrison.

Dimensions: Image 111.4 x 126.6 cm. Engraving. Hand colored.

Border: [left, right and top: 35 views of buildings and monuments in Baltimore.] [bottom] Battle Monument; View of the City of Baltimore taken from the Observatory in 1822; Plan of Baltimore Town in 1729 Containing 60 acres divided into 60 lots; Taken from Mr. Moales' View of Baltimore in 1752; Washington Monument.

Plan of the City of Baltimore, 1823

In 1816 a large annexation of land was authorized, bringing the total acreage of Baltimore to 8,448. The Board of Commissioners employed Thomas H. Poppleton "to survey the new boundaries, lay out streets in the annexed territory, select lots for public uses, and harmonize street names" (Olson, p. 56). According to Richard J. Cox, Poppleton actually was hired in 1812 under a Baltimore ordinance. The War of 1812 delayed the project. The layout of the old part of the City was not to be changed, so this section was mapped as is. Poppleton's suggestions for the development of Baltimore were followed quite closely during the next seventy years, until a subsequent annexation in 1888. This plan, therefore, gives a good representation of the actual layout of the City within the boundaries of the 1816 annexation: North Avenue, Edison Highway/East Avenue, the Gwynns Falls and a line just west of Monroe Street.

The map portion of the plan shows that a number of important developments had taken place since 1801 (compare no.18). The two sections of Pratt Street were connected; Light Street was extended to the south along the Basin, and Union Dock and City Dock had been developed at the mouth of the Jones Falls. Also notable is the proliferation of wharves in the Fells Point area, which went through a shipbuilding boom in the first half of the century.

The map by Thomas Poppleton was updated by William Sides and published in 1852 by Isaac Simmons.

References:
L. McCauley, 1975, V17; S. Olson, 1980, pp. 54-58. 

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