1892 Map of Owensville

About this map

Anne Arundel County and its deep river systems define this late nineteenth-century coastal landscape, dominated by the winding course of the Patuxent River and the wide estuaries of the South River and West River. The map reveals a rural network of river crossings and crossroads, where Priest Bridge, Governor Bridge, and Hills Bridge provide vital links between Prince George County and the tidewater settlements. A particularly interesting detail for historians is the route of the Proposed Drum Point Railroad, a line surveyed to run south through Davidsonville and Lothian that would eventually become a notable failed venture of the era. Settlement is concentrated in small inland hamlets like Birdsville and Owensville, while the waterfront shows early development at West River (Galesville) and Parole. In the northern reaches, the Annapolis Water Works serves the nearby capital, and the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad skirts the western edge of the county near Mitchellville (Mullikin).