Room 3: Maryland's
Counties and Neighbors
It was not until the eighteenth century that the portrayal of Maryland
began to resemble what we recognize today. By this time, with the
exception of navigational charts, mapmakers had abandoned the previous
orientation of placing North to the right. The 1751 map by Fry and Jefferson
provided an early, if broad, portrayal of the panhandle area of the colony.
Not until 1769, however, when George III and his council ratified the Mason-Dixon
survey line could cartographers place Maryland’s northern border with certainty.
In 1795, with the work of Dennis Griffith, Maryland map-making reached
its eighteenth-century zenith. Griffith produced a topographically accurate,
highly detailed map of Maryland which influenced many later works.
For over eighty years, from 1680 to 1769, the final determination of
Maryland’s northern and eastern boundaries remained elusive. Two questions
long occupied litigators for both the Calvert and Penn families. Did Lord
Baltimore’s 1632 charter include the east side of today’s Delmarva peninsula?
Did Maryland’s northern boundary encompass the fortieth degree or the fortieth
parallel of north latitude? The difference of interpretation between “degree”
versus “parallel” meant the relinquishment of thousands of acres of land
from Maryland to the Pennsylvania colony.
A settlement to each question came about at separate times. Unfortunately,
the Calverts lost territory on both occasions.
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