Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Harford County, Maryland
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==History== In 1608 the area was inhabited by [[Iroquois#Expansion|Massawomecks]] and [[Susquehannocks]].<ref name="History of Harford County by Walter Wilkes Preston" />{{rp|16β17}} The first European to see the area was [[John Smith (explorer)|John Smith]] in 1608 when he traveled up the [[Chesapeake Bay]] from [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]].<ref name="History of Harford County by Walter Wilkes Preston" />{{rp|14β15}} In 1652, the English and Susquehannocks signed a [[treaty]] at what is now [[Annapolis]] for the area now called Harford County.<ref name="History of Harford County by Walter Wilkes Preston" />{{rp|24}} Harford County was formed on March 22, 1774, from the eastern part of [[Baltimore County, Maryland|Baltimore County]] with a population of 13,000 people.<ref name="History of Harford County by Walter Wilkes Preston">{{cite book|last1=Preston|first1=Walter Wilkes |title=History of Harford County, Maryland: From 1608 (the Year of Smith's Expedition) to the Close of the War of 1812|url=https://archive.org/details/historyharfordc00changoog|date=1901|publisher=Sun|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyharfordc00changoog/page/n386 360]}}</ref>{{rp|13,60}} On March 22, 1775, Harford County hosted the signers of the [[Bush Declaration]], a precursor document to the [[American Revolution]].<ref name="History of Harford County by Walter Wilkes Preston" />{{rp|102}} On January 22, 1782, Bel Air became the county seat.<ref name="History of Harford County by Walter Wilkes Preston" />{{rp|67}} [[Havre de Grace, Maryland|Havre de Grace]], a city incorporated in 1785 within Harford County, was once under consideration to be the [[Capital (political)|capital]] of the United States rather than Washington, D.C.<ref name="History of Harford County by Walter Wilkes Preston" />{{rp|250}} It was favored for its strategic location at the top of the [[Chesapeake Bay]]; this location would facilitate [[trade]] while being secure in time of war.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sturgill|first1=Erika Quesenbery|title=Havre de Grace came close to the capital 224 years ago|url=http://www.cecildaily.com/our_cecil/article_b615334b-bacc-5bd7-b3e1-2e834d486817.html|access-date=April 21, 2017|publisher=Cecil Daily|date=December 23, 2015}}</ref> Today, the waterways around Havre de Grace have become adversely affected by silt runoff, which is one of the primary environmental issues of Harford County.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dougherty|first1=Wayne H.|title=Comprehensive Plan|date=March 2004|publisher=City of Havre De Grace, Maryland|url=https://planning.maryland.gov/PDF/OurWork/CompPlans/Harford/HavredeGrace/10_CMP_HavredeGrace.pdf|access-date=April 21, 2017}}</ref> While today the site is a Maryland [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] military reservation, the land was used as the Havre de Grace Racetrack where racehorse [[Man o' War]] ran in 1919 and 1920.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Vought|first1=Allan|title=Super horse Man o' War had many ties to Harford County and to Maryland|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/aegis/ph-ag-man-o-war-centennial-0331-20170330-story.html|access-date=April 25, 2017|newspaper=Baltimore Sun|date=March 31, 2017|archive-date=April 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425205158/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/aegis/ph-ag-man-o-war-centennial-0331-20170330-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[File:Sion Hill.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sion Hill]]|alt=Sion Hill.jpg]] During the 1900s the Bata Shoe Company employed numerous Eastern European [[refugees]] at the [[Riverside, Harford County, Maryland|Belcamp]] factory.<ref name="Harford County by Bill Bates">{{cite book|last1=Bates|first1=Bill|title=Harford County|date=2005|publisher=Arcadia|pages=96}}</ref>{{rp|4}} In the 1940s the [[Susquehanna River]] tributary [[Broad Creek (Susquehanna River)|Broad Creek]] was dammed to form the {{convert|55|acre|km2}} at what is now the [[Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation]].<ref>Lake Straus: {{Hanging indent | {{cite news|title=Baltimore Speeds Scout Camp Work|newspaper=Washington Post|date=July 22, 1947}}{{rp|B1}}}} {{Hanging indent | {{cite book|last1=Healey|first1=David|title=Great Storms of the Chesapeake|date=September 18, 2012|publisher=Arcadia|pages=160}}}}</ref> In June 1972 [[Hurricane Agnes]] overflowed the dam and flooded areas in many states.<ref>Flooding:{{Hanging indent |{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Capital|The Evening Capital]]|date=June 22, 1972|title=Flash floods kill 4 in Maryland; thousands stranded in Virginia|access-date=November 15, 2016|url= https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/43285737/|location=[[Annapolis, Maryland]]}}}} {{Hanging indent |{{cite book|last1=Healey|first1=David|title=Great Storms of the Chesapeake|date=September 18, 2012|publisher=Arcadia|pages=160}}}}</ref> On the ''County Health Rankings & Roadmaps'' by the [[Robert Wood Johnson Foundation]] with the [[University of Wisconsin]] Population Health Institute, "prior to the 2016 report ... Harford's yearly rankings{{refn|"among Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore City"}} typically fell between ninth and 10th place, primarily because of the percentage of county residents who were obese or who smoked."<ref>{{cite news|first1=David|last1=Anderson|date=April 5, 2017|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/aegis/ph-ag-health-report-0405-20170405-story.html|newspaper=Baltimore Sun|title=Not-so-healthy Harford slips in Maryland rankings|quote="Prior to the 2016 report ... Harford's yearly rankings typically fell between ninth and 10th place, primarily because of the percentage of county residents who were obese or who smoked."|access-date=December 11, 2018|archive-date=May 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519085646/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/aegis/ph-ag-health-report-0405-20170405-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Scenes from ''[[Tuck Everlasting]]'', ''[[From Within (film)|From Within]]'', and ''[[House of Cards (U.S. TV series)|House of Cards]]'' were all filmed in Harford County.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} In 2011 the Office of National Drug Control Policy deemed Harford County a designated High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/20/8-counties-deemed-drug-trafficking-areas/UPI-42591308611325|title=8 counties deemed drug trafficking areas|publisher=UPI.com|date=June 20, 2011|access-date=January 27, 2013}}</ref> The county was named for [[Henry Harford]] (c. 1759β1834), the illegitimate son of [[Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore]]. Henry Harford was born to Calvert's mistress, Hester Whelan, whose residence still stands as part of a private residence on Jarretsville Pike, in Phoenix, Maryland. Harford served as the last Proprietary Governor of [[Maryland]] but, because of his illegitimacy, did not inherit his father's title.<ref name="History of Harford County by Walter Wilkes Preston"/>{{rp|53}} There are 79 properties and districts listed on the National Register in the county, including one [[National Historic Landmark]] called [[Sion Hill]].<ref>{{NRISref|2010a}}</ref> ===Environmental history=== Harford County has environmental issues in three major areas: [[land use]], [[water pollution]]/[[urban runoff]], and [[soil contamination]]/[[groundwater contamination]]. As the county sits at the headwaters of the [[Chesapeake Bay]] along the [[Susquehanna River]], it plays a key role in controlling [[sediment]] and [[fertilizer]] [[surface runoff|runoff]] into the bay as well as fostering [[submerged aquatic vegetation]] (SAV) regrowth. The county has had to balance the needs of land owners to practice agriculture and/or pave land (creating [[impervious surface]]s) with effects of runoff into the bay. Harford County has been burdened by soil contamination and groundwater contamination since the creation of the [[Aberdeen Proving Ground]] in 1917. The military installation performs research for the [[U.S. Army]], including weapons testing, and has released various chemical agents into soil and groundwater, including [[mustard gas]] and [[perchlorate]]. The bordering towns of [[Aberdeen, Maryland|Aberdeen]], [[Edgewood, Maryland|Edgewood]] and [[Joppatowne, Maryland|Joppatowne]] have been affected by this contamination.<ref>U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Philadelphia. [http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/MD2210020036.htm "Aberdeen Proving Ground (Edgewood Area Site) β Current Site Information."] EPA Superfund Site ID No. MD2210020036. May 2008.</ref><ref>EPA. [http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/npl/MD3210021355.htm "Aberdeen Proving Ground (Michaelsville Landfill) β Current Site Information."] EPA Superfund Site ID No. MD3210021355. May 2008.</ref> Aberdeen Proving Ground contains three [[Superfund]] priority sites {{As of|2006|lc=y}}. Groundwater contamination by [[MTBE]], a mandatory [[gasoline]] additive, has also affected [[Fallston, Maryland|Fallston]].<ref>Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). Baltimore. [http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/Fallston_Presbyterian_PreKfs.pdf "Fact Sheet β Drinking Water Well Impact: Fallston Presbyterian Church/Fallston Pre-Kindergarten, 600 Fallston Road, Fallston, Maryland."]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} August 27, 2004.</ref><ref>MDE. [http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/oilcontrol/FallstonFactSheet12-01-04.pdf "Fact Sheet β Drinking Water Well Impact: Fallston Service Center, 602 Fallston Road, Fallston, Harford County, Maryland 21047."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051030014622/http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/oilcontrol/FallstonFactSheet12-01-04.pdf |date=October 30, 2005 }} MDE Case No. 9-0816HA. December 1, 2004.</ref> [[File:2016-06-12 12 35 54 View east along Maryland State Route 138 (Troyer Road) entering Harford County, Maryland from Baltimore County, Maryland.jpg|thumb|Entering Harford County, Maryland from Baltimore County, Maryland]] Harford County also faces controversy from residents living near [[Scarboro Landfill|Scarboro Landfill and Harford Waste Disposal Center]], the only municipal [[landfill]]. The landfill, approved to triple in size in 2007, is the subject of complaints by neighbors of operating violations, such as large areas of open trash and blown litter; [[leachate]] breaks which contaminate area residential wells and flow into [[Deer Creek (Maryland)|Deer Creek]], a tributary of the Susquehanna River; and increased health problems.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Harford County, Maryland
(section)
Add topic