Nathan Tyson's patented flour drying process - 1831

Nathan Tyson (1787-1867) married George Ellicott's daughter Martha Ellicott (1795-1873) in 1815 at the Quaker Meeting house in EC.  They lived in Baltimore city and at 'Jericho' by his family mills on the Gunpowder.  He was on the Board of Directors of the B & O Railroad, and historian Scharf wrote after his death that he was "one of the ablest and most honorable merchants of Baltimore."

Thanksgiving Day county fair... IN... the Patapsco Hotel

The Howard County fair began on Thanksgiving Day, 1907, and probably took place in the old Patapsco Hotel, by the train tracks and across the bridge from the railroad station.  The hotel was originally a passenger station for the new Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. A past post HERE.  Ponies, poultry, pumpkins, 'Pekin ducks,' turkeys and more filled all the four floors.

Kiln-dried corn meal

Drying corn in a pan-kiln (patents by 1812, 1816; British patent 1824 at left) for corn meal was said to have been invented at the Lea owned Brandywine Mills (Wilmington, Del).  George Ellicott's daughter Elizabeth Ellicott Lea married Thomas Lea, the son of the founder.

Revolutionary War rations - bread with water

Lea flour mills along the Brandywine near Wilmington, Del. provided flour for Washington's soldiers.  Thomas Lea married George Ellicott's daughter.  Soldiers received a pound of flour per day ration, but bakers could add more water to make a pound loaf of bread, and keep the excess flour.

Davy Crockett amid flour barrells near Ellicott's Mills

Before Davy Crockett (1786-1836) became a US Representative and then fought (and died) at the battle of the Alamo in 1836, he went through Ellicott’s mills in a wagon laden with flour barrels enroute to Baltimore.  He recounted his misadventure in his 1834 autobiography.  After running away from Kitchen’s school at a very young age, he went with a waggoneer to Gerardstown (Virginia, now WV) where he worked until he decided to accompany a man to Baltimore with the load. The horses bolted and he was in a "devlish flouncing about of flour barrels" in the back of the wagon.  He survived - "if he is born for a seat in Congress, even flour barrels can't make a mash of him."

James Lea grafitti at the B&O railroad station 1838

James Lea (1816-1857) was the son of Elizabeth (Ellicott) Lea (daughter of George Ellicott), and Thomas Lea, of the Lea Brandywine mills.  James was born in Delaware but raised south west of Ellicott's mills at the family farm "Walnut Hill" near Sandy Spring, Md.  He and his brothers took produce and livestock into Ellicott's mills, then visited his grandmother Elizabeth (Brooke) Ellicott who lived by their mill, across the river from the station.

James fought during the Mexican War (1846-48), went overland to California for the 1849 gold rush then ran a hotel until he became ill and returned home. A further reason, when his grandmother Elizabeth (Brooke) Ellicott died in 1853 she left him a portion of her Brooke lands near Sandy Spring, MD if he returned to live in Maryland. He died, unmarried, in 1857.

1851 Businesses and professionals in Howard County

The following list from Thomson's Mercantile and Professional Directory 1851-52. (Baltimore: 1851) gives names and businesses in mid century Howard district of Anne Arundel county. 

The first Patapsco Bank building is on the hill by St. Paul's (and now part of it) south of the B&O train station.  Two later buildings are next to each other on the north side of Main St. - 2d 1887 (8090 Main) and 3rd 1905 (8098 Main)

1871 Businesses and farmers in Howard County

The State Gazette and Merchants and Farmers' Directory for Maryland listed about 150 businessmen and 70 farmers in Howard County.  The book described the county and some of the towns.  Ellicott City was one of "the most romantic cities" in the US with "some of the largest cotton factories in the country."

Trying to tame the floods - Stormwater Staircase; Tiber branch, Hudson branch, New Cut

The Hudson and Tiber 'branches' (more like streams in dry weather) join in parking lot D behind the visitor's center (old post office).  The Tiber branch enters from the pipe on the left, and the Hudson branch flows under Main St. then under the building in the upper right. They become the Tiber branch as it proceeds east, joined by New Cut stream, then flows into the Patapsco River.

The Pioneer - the first railroad passenger car - on a stamp

In 1830, the first horse drawn passenger car was used on the B & O rail road from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills.  To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the B & O, a postage stamp was released showing the Pioneer, Tom Thumb (first steam engine) and a 1952 modern locomotive.

Wealthy Kraft family's butcher shop on Main Street OEC

8081 Main St., a fine stone building, was built c1833 as a home then became a store.  In 1881 Dorothy Kraft bought the building for Kraft's Meat Market. The Kraft meat sign is seen on the first building.



Andrew Kraft (1836-1881) and Dorothy (1839-1916) were both from Germany - he arrived at age 15, she at age 6 and started working at the mills.  He worked for a butcher, then started out on his own. They married in 1858 and had a large family which continued the business after she died in 1916 as "one of the richest women" in the county leaving "$300,000 worth of property" to her family.

Walking from Ellicott Mills to Elkridge, then by train in 1843

On Friday, Oct. 13, 1843 a reporter (“Old Honesty”) walked the six miles from Ellicott’s Mills to Elkridge Landing and wrote a long article about the scenery, mills and trains along the Patapsco River.  He passed Illchester, Thistle Factory (image left), Avalon Furnace, Elkridge Landing and Relay station.

The river was called 'Patapsco Falls' until it reached Elkridge, where it was called 'Patapsco River' to the Chesapeake Bay.

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.

Oldest train station in America - B & O station in Ellicott City

The Ellicott City B & O train station, on lower Main St., was opened in 1831.  The right (southern) portion of the station was a "Car House" for repairs, making it also the only "combination" rail road station still in existence.  It is a museum, owned by Howard County since 1997, with free admission.  Go visit!   The track and railroad bridge are still in use by CSX. To the side of the station is a turntable, a replica of the first horse drawn passenger car "The Pioneer", an 1885 brick freight station building and a 1927 caboose.

Ellicott City flood.... again

Less than two years after the last devastating flood of 2016, Main Street was flooded again on Sunday May 27, 2018.  Within a few mile swath 9.5 inches of rain pummeled us over a short time in the afternoon, however less than 15 miles south there was no rain.

An old stone building - the first county courthouse - turned into orientation center behind the log cabin museum, is now gone; as is the road on left side of the photo.

Chief Little Turtle visited George Ellicott's home in 1807

The then famous Native American chief Little Turtle (c1752-1812) and other chiefs visited Ellicott mills during Christmas week 1807 after meetings in Washington City and Baltimore.  Two were chiefs of the Miami nation: The Little Turtle and Busheville; two from the Delaware nation; two chiefs of the Shawnee nation; and two chiefs of the Potowatomi nation (Marpau and his wife did not go to Ellicott's home). 

George Ellicott's (1760-1832) wife Elizabeth (Brooke) Ellicott (1762-1853) prepared hominy and other dishes she felt would interest their guests.  Their daughter Martha (Ellicott) Tyson  wrote about the visit.  Ellicott and Gerard Hopkins, the uncle of Johns Hopkins, had been part of the Quaker delegation to visit the chiefs near Fort Wayne, in 1804.

B & O rail road sites in Howard County 1857

"Ellicott's Mills, fourteen miles from Baltimore, covering the bottom and slopes of the steep hills with dwellings, and their tops with churches and other public edifices." From excerpt below. Click on images to enlarge.

B & O rail road and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in 1829

James Stuart (1775-1849) from Scotland, traveled in Maryland in 1829, and wrote about the canal, railway and the famed "Baltimore clipper" ships.

Although both had ground breaking ceremonies on the same day - July 4, 1828 - (B&O in Baltimore, C&O in Washington DC), the canal only reached Cumberland, MD and stopped because the train line progressed further and was more profitable.

The image, from the 1850s, at Point of Rocks, shows the rails on left, the canal, and the towpath on right.

1831 B & O railroad drawn by horse and wretched breakfast at Ellicott Mills

Thomas Hamilton (1789-1842) rode in "a wooden house or chamber...drawn by a horse at the rate of about four miles an hour."  After 3 hours he arrived in "Ellicot Mills" to a poor breakfast.

1831 B & O horse drawn carriage

During an 1831 trip to North and South America, Sir James Edward Alexander (1803-1885) took a detour from riding a “coach (a sort of windmill, freely admitting the cold air through the leathern sides)” from Washington to Baltimore to ride on the “Baltimore Railway”.  They rode in a "heavy double carriage, drawn by one horse."