Lapidum is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in Harford County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, USA, located at the head of navigation of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

on the west bank across from

Port Deposit Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 653 at the 2010 census. Geography Port Deposit is located ...

History

17th century

Lapidum traces its history to the granting of early

land patent A land patent is a form of letters patent assigning official ownership of a particular tract of land that has gone through various legally-prescribed processes like surveying and documentation, followed by the letter's signing, sealing, and publi ...

s for the tracts known as "Eightrapp" (1665), "Faton" (1679) and "Land of Promise" (1684). As settlers transformed the surrounding land from forest to farmland the area grew in importance as a commercial center. Fields of

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

were grown on land near the river, and an important fishing industry also developed, based on the runs of

shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

and

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

.Susquehanna State Park History

18th century

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

was established between this point and Port Deposit in the 1720s and operated until the completion of the bridge from Port Deposit to the Rock Run Mill just upstream of Lapidum in 1818. 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 (there was a lower ferry at the mouth of the Susquehanna River just off the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

). In 1731, a road from Susquehanna Upper Ferry toward

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 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 just above Lapidum to Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania. This upper ferry came to be known as "Creswell's Ferry."Interpretive Plan for the Lower Susquehanna Greenway
/ref>

19th century

A three-story

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

building, the Susquehanna Hotel, was built here by

Conrad Baker Conrad Baker (February 12, 1817 – April 28, 1885) was an American attorney, military officer, and politician who served as state representative, 15th lieutenant governor, and the 15th governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1867 to 1873. B ...

in 1868. It was constructed of stone, brick and framed with lumber, and included several large porches. Other buildings included a church, a mill, a

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

hall, a school, and numerous houses, stores and warehouses as well as wharves to serve the trade from goods being brought down the Susquehanna River or by road from the adjacent countryside to be loaded onto ships. Lapidum profited from the financial success of the ferry, the

Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal The Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal between Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, and Havre de Grace, Maryland, at the head of Chesapeake Bay, provided an interstate shipping alternative to 19th-century arks, rafts, and boats plying the difficult waters o ...

, and from its location as one of the highest deepwater landings for Chesapeake Bay shipping.

20th century

By 1900, the sources of Lapidum's commerce and prosperity were lost to railroad competition. Ice accumulations (referred to locally as "ice gorges") eventually destroyed the warehouses and wharves. The hotel continued as a fishing lodge and men's club until the 1960s, when it was torn down. The land is currently part of Susquehanna State Park in Maryland.

References

External links

Official website of Maryland Susquehanna State ParkSusquehanna State Park in World Database on Protected Areas
{{Coord, 39, 35, 52, N, 76, 07, 44, W, type:city_region:US-MD_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Ghost towns in Maryland Geography of Harford County, Maryland