Frenchtown was a historic settlement on the Elk River in

Cecil County Cecil County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The ...

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 ...

, United States.

Background

Frenchtown was an important link in the north–south travel route during the 18th and 19th centuries. After the Revolutionary War, the popularity of the route for passengers and freight grew. A regular line of vessels began sailing from Baltimore to Frenchtown. As boats churned their way to the port, it established itself as a busy relay point on the main line of travel between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Statesmen and the traveling public came journeying through. At first the New Castle and Frenchtown Turnpike Company connected the village with the Delaware River, and later it was the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad. As a depot, it was burned by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

under

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

George Cockburn Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet, (22 April 1772 – 19 August 1853) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a captain, he was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797 during the French Revolutionary ...

on April 29, 1813. The old Frenchtown Tavern remained standing until the 1960s. A watercolor by

Benjamin Henry Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was a British-American Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical architect who immigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in ...

dated August 2, 1806, is entitled ''View from the Packet Wharf at Frenchtown Looking Down Elk Creek showing the Mouth of Pates' Creek''. The painting resides in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York. After publication of the escape of slaves by the

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a -long, -wide and -deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. In the mid-17th century, mapmaker Augus ...

a close watch was kept on vessels using that passage. Frenchtown and the overland route was considered a safer route. A large escape attempt involving a Captain Sayres and his vessel named ''Pearl'' involved seventy-seven slaves boarding in Washington attempting to make Frenchtown. ''Pearl'' was pursued and the becalmed vessel overtaken at the mouth of the Potomac. The northern portion of the Chesapeake Bay was notable for calms that delayed the sailing vessels connecting the town with Baltimore. In 1813 the first commercial steam vessel, ''Chesapeake'' built in Baltimore by Captain Edward Trippe, on the Chesapeake began service between Frenchtown and Baltimore as the Union Line. Within a year other steamers were making the run in competition. The transportation revolution caused the village to fade as the

opened up. Then, with the completion in 1837 of a rail line through Elkton, one that did not require steamboat connections on each waterway, business on the route started declining. "By 1858, stagecoaches, wagons, rail cars, and steamers no longer converged here, crowding down to the old shoreline." The New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad Right-of-Way was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976.

References

External links

History of Frenchtown
from the Maryland State Archives Burned buildings and structures in the United States Geography of Cecil County, Maryland Ghost towns in Maryland Maryland in the War of 1812 Populated places in colonial Maryland {{CecilCountyMD-geo-stub