Perry Hall: Early Exploration and Settlement
by David Marks
Historian, Perry Hall Improvement Association
Two hundred years ago, the community now known as Perry Hall was a much different
place. Its character was determined by the singularity of the rolling land, the dense
forests which extended out from the Gunpowder River, and the dirt trails and turnpikes
which gave this country village its rustic appearance.
The land had been explored centuries earlier by Native Americans, many of whom left
behind arrowheads and other artifacts which still lie buried beneath Perry Hall's soil.
Indian tribes were nomadic, roaming the great Chesapeake peninsula. Joppa Road, in fact,
began as an old Indian trail, probably used by the Susquehannock tribe. An old spring near
the present-day Cedarside Farms neighborhood was built by the Susquehannocks. This was
later used by soldiers during the American Revolution. By the time of European settlement,
however, most Indian tribes had abandoned the area.
The first European to explore northeastern Baltimore County was Captain John Smith,
leader of the Jamestown colony in Virginia. Smith sailed up the Gunpowder River in 1608,
stopping when the rocks impeded his exploration. He met two Indian tribes along the way,
the Massawomeks and the Susquehannocks, who welcomed the visitor with peace pipes and
gifts. It was during this same journey in 1608 that Captain Smith discovered iron ore in
Maryland, leading to intense industrialization along rivers like the Gunpowder.
European settlement began nearly thirty years later, in 1669, when Henry Howard of Anne
Arundel County purchased 200 acres of land near Philadelphia Road and the Gunpowder River.
Howard called his purchase "Colenbourne." The second major land acquisition was
in 1679, when Major John Welsh of Anne Arundel County established "Three
Sisters," a 1,000-acre estate east of present-day Cowenton Avenue. Three other
purchases are noteworthy. "Darnall's Camp" and "Darnall's Sylvania"
were purchased by John Darnall in 1683 near the present-day Perry Hall public library.
Soon after, George Thompson settled 600 acres at the headwaters of Honeygo Run.
The most significant purchase, however, came on June 16, 1681, when George Lingdan of
Calvert County acquired the 1,000 acres of land now known as "Perry Hall."
Lingdan called his property "The Adventure." A subsequent 500-acre addition over
the Gunpowder River was called "Adventure's Addition."
For the most part, settlers were very poor, illiterate, and lived in squalid quarters.
Their log cabins and sod houses were scattered near present-day Joppa Road and Cowenton
Avenue. They worked in the furnaces, forges, and mills which dotted the Gunpowder River.
In Perry Hall, iron ore was mined at local sites, shipped to furnaces near the
Gunpowder River, and converted into pig iron for use at forges and blacksmith shops. Early
furnaces transformed the pig iron directly into pots, stove plates, and other items.
During wartime, the iron was converted into ammunition and rifles for the fledgling
American army. Much of the fuel for the Gunpowder furnaces was supplied by woodcutters who
cleared the land west of the river.
It is believed that Stephen Onion built a furnace, the Gunpowder Iron Works, on the
Great Gunpowder Falls in 1743, since iron bolts have been found in rocks about a half mile
east of the present Philadelphia Road bridge. In 1749, the Maryland Gazette reported that
the Onion furnace was destroyed by the flooding of the river. The furnace was rebuilt,
expanded to seven houses, and sold in 1769. The property was later the site of the Joppa
Iron Works, and the adjacent land was purchased by Harry Dorsey Gough, the wealthy
proprietor of Perry Hall Mansion. Forge Road, near the Gunpowder River, was probably named
for the intense iron industry in this part of Perry Hall.
By 1781, a separate company, the Nottingham Iron Company, was operating two forges at
Philadelphia Road and the Great Gunpowder Falls. This part of the river was once called
"Long Calm," where gentle, broad water welcomed visitors to the area. In one
30-week period during 1856, the Nottingham Iron Company at "Long Calm" produced
1100 tons of iron. Ruins of this active industrial site can still be found.
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