1831 B & O survey of route for the first rail road line

The first passenger and freight railroad ran from Baltimore to Ellicott's mills (Ellicott City).  The tracks headed south out of Baltimore to run along the Patapsco River mills (Avalon mill at Elkridge, Md) to Ellicott's mills.  From the 1831 Ellicott mills rail road station (the oldest rr station in America, now a museum HERE) the route ran west along the river then to Frederick.

Ellicott City to Clarksville turnpike milestone 9 M TO EC

The turnpike company was approved by the Maryland General Assembly in 1868 and lasted about 50 years. For some reason the 9 is backwards. The stone in Clarksville is located on the west side of Rt. 108 across from Great Star Drive in front of Clarksville Commons.

Baltimore to Frederick town turnpike milestone - 10 M to B

The 10 mile marker stone, on lower Main Street under the railroad bridge, is testament to the Ellicott brothers who built a road from Baltimore to their new settlement of Ellicott's mills.  When the turnpike was financed it went from Baltimore through Ellicott Mills to Frederick to Cumberland and joined the National Road.

Plaque over milestone: This milestone shows the distance, in miles, from the Baltimore Courthouse to Ellicott City on the Baltimore and Frederick Turnpike, a toll road. The turnpike company was chartered in 1805 and the road was completed in 1818. The markers, made of Baltimore gneiss from the Ellicott City area, were placed at each mile during the initial construction of the turnpike.

Covered turnpike bridge and trolley bridge at Ellicott Mills

A circa 1909 photograph shows the trolley bridge (on the left) and the covered bridge (for the road) crossing over the Patapsco to Baltimore County.

Sites on the B&O train line through Howard County in 1833

Riding the new B&O railroad from Baltimore was a novel 'excursion', and was described in the 1833 book:  A Complete View of Baltimore