Patapsco River MD

Wikipedia says: The Patapsco River mainstem is a 39-mile (63 km) river in central Maryland that flows into Chesapeake Bay. The river’s tidal portion forms the harbor for the city of Baltimore. With its South Branch, the Patapsco forms the northern border of Howard County, Maryland. The name “Patapsco” is derived from the Algonquian pota-psk-ut, which translates to “backwater” or “tide covered with froth”.

History

Captain John Smith was the first European to explore the river, noting it on his 1612 map as the Bolus River. The “Red river”, named after the clay color, is considered the “old Bolus”, as other branches were also labeled Bolus on maps. As the river was not navigable beyond Elkridge, it was not a significant path of commerce; in 1723, only one ship was listed as serving the northern branch, and four others operating around the mouth.

The first land record regarding Parr’s Springs, the source of the South Branch, dates from 1744, when John Parr laid out a 200 acres (81 ha) tract he called Parr’s Range. During the Civil War, Parr’s Spring was a stop for the Army of the Potomac’s Brig. Gen. David M. Gregg’s cavalry, on 29 June 1863, while en route to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Parr’s Spring was dug to form a 1.75 acres (7,100 m2) pond in the 1950s, filled by seven spring heads that form the headwaters of the South Branch of the Patapsco River.

Beginning in the 1770s, the Patapsco River became the center of Maryland industrialization. Milling and manufacturing operations abounded along the river throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, generally powered by small dams. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s original main line was constructed in 1829 west along the Patapsco Valley; the nation’s first railroad, the route remains, though much altered. Many railroad bridges were built in the valley, including the Thomas Viaduct, which is still in use, and the Patterson Viaduct, now in ruins.

The mouth of the Patapsco River forms Baltimore Harbor, the site of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. This is where Francis Scott Key, aboard the British HMS Tonnant, wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner”, a poem later set to music as the national anthem of the United States. Today, a red, white, and blue buoy marks where the ship was anchored.