Editing Port Deposit, Maryland (section)

===The upper ferry===
[[Image:Port Deposit P3260066.JPG|right|thumb|240px|Historic buildings in Port Deposit]]
In 1729, Thomas Cresap established a regular ferry service near Smith's Falls (in the upper Port Deposit area) crossing the Susquehanna to [[Lapidum]]; this was referred to as Smith's Ferry or Upper Ferry.<ref>There was a lower ferry at the mouth of the Susquehanna River.</ref> In 1731, a road from Susquehanna Upper Ferry toward [[Philadelphia]], as far as the jurisdiction extends, was authorized. In the same year, in the jurisdiction south of the river, a petition was submitted for a road from the mill at 'Rock Run'<ref>There were Rock Run mills on both sides of the Susquehanna near both ends of the bridge &mdash; one in Port Deposit and one above Lapidum at the bridge head on the south side/</ref> to [[Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania]]. This upper ferry was later purchased by Colonel John Creswell and came to be known as 'Creswell's Ferry'.<ref name="Susq" /><ref name="Johnston">{{cite book|author= Johnston, George  |title= History Of Cecil County, Md, And The Early Settlements Around The Head Of Chesapeake Bay And On The Delaware River |publisher=Regional Publishing, Baltimore |orig-year=1881|year=1972 }}</ref>

This location, and [[Lapidum, Maryland|Lapidum]] across the river, were the northernmost navigable deepwater ports on the Susquehanna. River barges and wagons loaded with lumber, grain, coal, whiskey, tobacco, and other goods floated downriver to this "port of deposit", where cargo could be transferred to ships from the Chesapeake. In the early days, it was difficult to float goods downriver, since there were many rapids and hazards, but it remained the most convenient way for goods to leave much of the country drained by the Susquehanna above the falls. Further, since a number of roads converged at the ferry crossing, goods could be carted or "rolled."<ref>It was common in the early colonies to load goods in large sturdy barrels or drums, which were then hitched to oxen and rolled to their destination.</ref><ref name="A">Maryland A to Z: a topographical dictionary  by Marion J. Kaminkow; Magna Carta Book Co.; Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.; 1985.</ref><ref name="Johnston" /><ref name="B">{{cite web|url=https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-472.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Port Deposit |date=1976|access-date=January 1, 2016 |author=George J. Andreve |publisher=Maryland Historical Trust}}</ref>

As early as the 1790s, the forests on the Susquehanna were being logged and the timbers floated downriver to points near the ferry landing. In 1812, the town was platted as Creswell's Landing; months later, Governor [[Levin Winder]] signed a bill officially naming the town Port Deposite (it would lose the trailing "e" at some point in the future).<ref name="Susq" />