| 1565 |
The Spanish founded St. Augustine, the
first permanent white settlement in what is now the United States. |
| 1607 |
The Virginia Company of London founded the first perma=
nent
English settlement in America at Jamestown. |
| 1624 |
The King dissolved the Virginia Company and established
Virginia as a crown colony with an elected assembly. |
| 1632 |
A charter was granted to Cecilius Calvert, the 2nd Lord
Baltimore. Maryland remained a proprietary colony until 1776, except
for the years 1691-1715 when the colony reverted to the crown |
| 1634 |
The ships Ark and Dove brought about
200 Catholic and Protestant English settlers to the Western Shore of the
Chesapeake Bay, where St. Mary's, Maryland was established.
|
| 1650 |
The first permanent settlements were made in the Albermarle
Sound area by colonist from Virginia. |
| 1698 |
The Spanish founded Pensacola. |
| 1670 |
The first permanent English settlement was made at Albermarle
Point (Charles Town). |
| 1702 |
Mobile was founded as a French settlement. |
| 1706-1725 |
French Huguenots, German and Swiss colonists founded towns
near the coast of North Carolina. |
| 1710-1763 |
The Alabama area was governed by the France. The
English, French, Spanish and Americans from South Carolina and Georgia
established trading posts. |
| 1710-1740s |
Passes across the Blue Ridge mountains leading from eastern
Virginia into the Shenandoah Valley were discovered. Emigrants from
Pennsylvania and New Jersey began to enter the valley. |
| 1713-1719 |
The South Carolina region separated from North
Carolina and became a royal colony. Records were kept in Charleston.
|
| 1716 |
Fort Rosalie, now Natchez, was established by the
French on the Mississippi River. |
| 1718 |
New Orleans was founded. |
| 1729 |
Baltimore was founded. It soon became a major port
and commercial center. |
| 1730 |
Settlers began to move into the interior of South Carolina
when the colonial government provided incentives for landowners in new
townships. |
| 1730-1770 |
Scottish Highlanders immigrated directly to North Carolina
ports. People of Ulster Scottish and German descent arrived from Pennsylvania
and Virginia using the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road. |
| 1732 |
King George II of England granted a charter for the colony
of Georgia as a place of refuge. |
| 1733 |
James Oglethorpe founded the city of Savannah. |
| 1734 |
German-speaking Salzburgers began to settle at Ebenezer,
in present day Effingham County, Georgia. |
| 1750-1784 |
Land grants made to the Ohio Company encouraged exploration
beyond the Alleghenies. |
| 1752 |
The charter was surrendered and Georgia became
a crown colony. |
| 1755-1785 |
After they had been expelled from Nova Scotia, 5,000 French-speaking
Acadians settled in Louisiana. |
| 1760-1761 |
The Cherokee War ended in a treaty that opened the up
country of South Carolina for settlement. The Bounty Act of 1761
offered public land tax free for 10 years, and settlers began pouring into
the up county. |
| 1763 |
At the close of the Seven Years' War (French & Ind=
ian
War), Britain gained control of Florida. Settlers from Europe and
the American colonies to the north began to move into the area. The provi=
nces
of East & West Florida were formed. |
| 1763-1767 |
The Maryland-Pennsylvania boundary was established
by the Mason-Dixon Line. |
| 1763-1783 |
The Alabama area was governed by Great Britain.
|
| 1769 |
Nine original judicial districts were established in South
Carolina, but records continued to be kept in Charleston until
1780. |
| 1770s |
The Wilderness Road opened access across the Cumberland
Gap from Virginia into Kentucky. |
| 1776 |
Maryland adopted a Declaration of Rights and a
state constitution. |
| 1783 |
Most of the British settlers left when Spain regained
Florida. |
| 1783 |
Britain ceded the Mobile area to Spain. The rest of Alabama
region was claimed by Georgia. The southern boundary was in dispute
until 1795, when it was set at the 31st parallel, a few miles north of
Mobile. |
| 1784-1820 |
Thousands of Americans moved to Georgia seeking
inexpensive land. |
| 1788 |
Maryland officially became a state in the Union by ratifying the Constitution. |
| 1788 |
Georgia becomes a state. |
| 1788 |
South Carolina becomes a state. |
| 1789 |
North Carolina became a state and ceded what is now Tennessee to the United States government. |
| 1792 |
Kentucky becomes a separate state. |
| 1798 |
Georgia abandoned claims to the area. The area
north of the 31st parallel became part of the Mississippi Territory. |
| 1802 |
Georgia relinquished its claims to lands west of
the Chattahoochee River, these lands became part of Mississippi
and Alabama. |
| 1805 |
The first Georgia land lottery was held. |
| 1812 |
The United States annexed portions of West Florida
to Louisiana and to the Mississippi Territory. |
| 1813-1814 |
During the War of 1812, American forces captured Mobile
from the Spanish and defeated the Creek Indians. Removal of the Creeks
and other Indian tribes was begun, and white settlers began pouring into
the region, bringing black slaves with them. |
| 1817 |
Congress created the Alabama Territory. Mississippi
became a state. |
| 1818 |
The National Road was completed from Cumberland to Wheeling. |
| 1819 |
Spain ceded the remainder of West Florida and all
of East Florida to the United States. |
| 1819 |
Alabama was admitted to the Union as a state. |
| 1822 |
Florida organized as a territory. |
| 1845 |
Florida becomes a state. |
| 1851 |
Baltimore City became an independent city and kept
court, land, and probate records separately from the county. |
| 1861-1865 |
Southern soldiers fought on both sides during the Civil
War. |
| 1861-1870 |
Most of Virginia joined the Confederacy, although
fifty western counties broke off and were admitted to the Union as the
state of West Virginia in 1863. |