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Construction begins on what will become the nation's first common carrier, as well as the backbone of the eventual continent-wide rail network---the B & O Railroad.
Cornerstone laid by Charles Carroll of Carrollton. The initial tracks were built with granite stringers topped by strap iron rails.
"It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal (which served New York City) and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which would have connected Philadelphia and Pittsburgh."
Same day:
1828 Groundbreaking for the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in the District of Columbia (Jul. 4)
Both companies, railroad and canal, will compete for the same right-of-way along the north side of the Potomac River. "The narrow strip of available land along the Potomac River from Point of Rocks to Harpers Ferry caused a legal battle between the B&O and the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal, as both sought to exclude the other from its use. A later compromise allowed the two companies to share the right of way."
1827 Tamerlane and Other Poems, Edgar Allen Poe (age 18), having recently dropped out of the University of Virginia, publishes his first collection of poetry in Boston (July).
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1827 Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company formally incorporated (Apr 24) "[it was] intended to provide not only an alternative to, but also a faster route for Midwestern goods to reach the East Coast than the seven-year-old, hugely successful, but slow Erie Canal across upstate New York. Thomas was elected as the first president and Brown the treasurer. The capital of the proposed company was fixed at five million dollars but the B&O was initially capitalized in 1827 with a three million dollar issue of stock. Virtually every citizen of Baltimore owned a share, as the offering was oversubscribed."
1827 Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company chartered in Virginia (Mar. 8)
1827 Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company chartered in Maryland (Feb. 28)
1827 Twenty-five merchants and bankers in Baltimore meet to plan a steam railroad over to the trans-Appalachian west. (Feb. 12) '[they] studied the best means of restoring "that portion of the Western trade which has recently been diverted from it by the introduction of steam navigation." Their answer was to build a railroad—one of the first commercial lines in the world."
1826 Philip E. Thomas and George Brown of Baltimore spent the year touring England "investigating railway enterprises in England, which were at that time being tested in a comprehensive fashion as commercial ventures. Their investigation completed, they held an organizational meeting in Feb. 1827.
1825 Erie Canal opens in western New York (Oct. 26)
1825 The Stockton and Darlington Railway begins operation in northeast England (Sept. 26). "The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington."
1825 Chesapeake & Ohio Canal company chartered by Act of Congress, signed by President Monroe (Mar).
1825 John Quincy Adams (b. 1767) takes oath of office as sixth President of the United States (Mar. 4). "During his term, Adams worked on transforming America into a world power through "internal improvements," as a part of the "American System". It consisted of a high tariff to fund internal improvements such as road-building, and a national bank to encourage productive enterprise and form a national currency. In his first annual message to Congress, Adams presented an ambitious program for modernization that included roads, canals, a national university, an astronomical observatory, and other initiatives. The support for his proposals was mixed, mainly due to opposition from Andrew Jackson's followers." (wp)
1819 Sec. of State John Quincy Adams negotiates the Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain. Spain agrees to sell Florida to the United States.
1818 Treaty of 1818 with Great Britain, in which the two nations agree to joint occupation of the Oregon Country. Negotiated by Albert Gallatin.
1817 John Quincy Adams becomes fourth U.S. Secretary of State, in the Administration of James Monroe (Sept. 22)
1817 Construction begins on the Erie Canal
1810 New York legislature agrees to charter private company to build Erie Canal
1815 New Jersey issues the first railroad charter in U.S.
1802 The Potomac Canal completed
1792 Baltimore Water Company chartered, the first water company in the U.S.
1788 U.S. Constitution ratified (June)
1787 Philadelphia convention.
1785 Potomac Company chartered in Virginia
1784 Potomac Company chartered in Maryland
1782 Lexington Market founded in Baltimore
1776 Continental Congress meets in Baltimore (Dec., through Feb. 1777)
1774 Baltimore inaugurates the first postal system in the United States
1774 The burning of the Peggy Stewart at Annapolis (The Annapolis Tea Party).
1772 Charles Carrol of Carrollton becomes early advocate of American independence from Great Britain. "as the dispute between Great Britain and her colonies intensified in the early 1770s, Carroll became a powerful voice for independence. In 1772 he engaged in a debate conducted through anonymous newspaper letters, maintaining the right of the colonies to control their own taxation. Writing in the Maryland Gazette under the pseudonym 'First Citizen,' "
1763 Public market system begins in Baltimore "Baltimore grew swiftly in the 18th Century as a granary for sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean. The profit from sugar encouraged the cultivation of cane and the importation of food. It was also during this time when Baltimore saw the establishment of its public market system in 1763."
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| (source) "Baltimore in 1752, reconstruction by Edward Johnson Coale in 1817 of the 1752 etching by John Moale of Baltimore. |
1729 The Town of Baltimore is founded and laid out.
1706 Port of Baltimore established by the Maryland Assembly for shipment of tobacco.
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