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Port of Bladensburg
Surveyed in May 1787

A Plat of the Town of Bladensburgh as Surveyed in May 1787 and
laid down by a Scale of Four Chains or sixteen perches in an Inch.
B John Frederick Augustus Riggs, Survey

Traced from original Plat
in Record Book of Bladensburg.
(made by above marked Surveyor
in 1787) by B Rathbone, Feb. 4,
1897.

There are two roads on this map that seem to run generally in the same area today. Extending northeast from between Lots 59 & 58 (see layout below) is Edmonston Road, and the continuation of the main east-west road is the Road to Annapolis (still called Annapolis Road). If Edmonston Road is the same as the original, then early Bladensburg extended just a bit past the shopping area containing the Rolling Pin Bakery.

To help clarify some of the fuzzy writing on this graphic of a photo of a tracing of the original plat, I will describe the numbering scheme and include the names of roads.

First locate the following:

  1. Public Landing - lower left of Plat where major north-south & east-west roads meet.
  2. Tobacco Warehouse - in sixth column of lots counting from the west (left), Lot #37.
  3. Town Spring - small dot at the top of the seventh column.

Lot numbers begin at the western side of town and are numbered from the north to the south for the most part. (Lots 58-60 seem to be afterthoughts):

  • Column 1 - Lots # 1 - # 8 and Lot # 60
  • Column 2 - Lots # 9 - # 15, stopping at the Publick Landing and West Street.
  • Column 3 - Lots # 16 - # 19, stopping at West Street.
  • Column 4 - Lots # 20 - # 22, stopping at West Street
  • Column 2 - (South of West Street) Lot # 23
  • Column 3 - (South of West Street) Lots # 24 - # 26
  • Column 4 - (South of West Street) Lots # 27 - # 29
  • Column 5 - Lots # 30 - # 34, continuing across main roadway, now called Market Street.
  • Column 6 - Lots # 35 - # 40, crossing Market Street & including the Tobacco Warehouse.
  • Column 7 - Lots # 41 - # 46, with Town Spring above Lot # 41. Main road now East Street.
  • Column 8 - Lot # 59 and Lots # 47 - # 53.
  • Column 9 - Lot # 58 and Lots # 54 - #57.

Marked roads:

  • Between Columns 1 & 2: Water Street.
  • Running through Lots # 16 - # 19 in Column 3: Ross Street.
  • Between Lots # 23 and # 24: Fish Street.
  • Between Columns 4 & 5: Bladen Street, with Spring Alley cut from Lot # 27.
  • West of Tobacco Warehouse: Market Place.
  • South of Tobacco Warehouse: Market Lane.
  • Between Columns 6 & 7 (north of main road) Spring Street.
  • Between Columns 6 & 7 (south of main road) South Street, which continues on as Road toward Alexandria and toward Upper Marlbough [sic].
  • Between Columns 8 & 9: North Street, which becomes Edmonston Road.
  • Between Lots # 11 & # 12: Cross Street.
  • Between Lots # 59 & # 47: Spring Lane.
  • Between Lots # 44 & # 45: just called Lane, with no name.

Original Lot Owners:

  1. Richard Snowden, Jr.
  2. Samuel Thomas
  3. Stephen Martin
  4. Samuel Snowden
  5. Nathaniel Folsom
  6. Osborn Sprigg
  7. Ninian Mariarte
  8. Edward Lowndes & Co.
  9. Thomas Waring
  10. Michael Higgons
  11. Matthew Hopkins
  12. Edward Trafford
  13. John Skinner
  14. Thomas Gantt, Jr.
  15. Reserved for Miss Calvert, proprietor of the land
  16. Francis Lowndes
  17. George Scott
  18. Dr. George Riddle
  19. Dr. David Ross
  20. Nicholas Baker
  21. William Digges
  22. Thomas Chittam
  23. Thomas Williams, Sr.
  24. Capt. James Edmonston
  25. Thomas Snowden
  26. Richard Snowden, Sr.
  27. Thomas Owen
  28. John Needham
  29. Thomas Cramphin
  30. Reserved for Miss Calvert
  31. Nicholas Digges
  32. William Hilleary
  33. John Gittings
  34. Samuel Beall, Jr.
  35. Dr. George Cooke
  36. James Haddock Waring
  37. Richard Gildert
  38. Francis Finn
  39. Major Jeremiah Belt
  40. Samuel Galloway
  41. William Thomas
  42. John Hawkins, Jr.
  43. William Murdoch, Esq.
  44. John Row, Jr.
  45. Joseph Belt, Son of John
  46. John Brashear
  47.  
  48. Kennedy Farrell
  49. Benjamin Young, Esq.
  50. John Row, Sr. (8 Jul 1743)
  51. Charles Digges
  52. Christopher Lowndes
  53. Nehemiah Ogden
  54.  
  55. William Mauduit
  56.  
  57. Col. Edward Sprigg
  58. Thomas Hilleary
  59. Thomas Butler
  60. Edward Sprigg the 3rd

Capt. James Edmonston, Osborn Sprigg, William Mauduit, Thomas Gantt and Thomas Waring conducted the sale of the lots on 15 Mar 1742. Purchasers were required to improve the land within 18 months. Each lot occupied an acre.

Return to County Site

[Prince George's County Coordinator: John M. Scroggins scroggjm@erols.com]