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Havre de Grace is located
on the Susquehanna River at the point where the Susquehanna River
and the tidal flow of the Chesapeake Bay meet. The river is probably
the reason for the early existence of the town. Havre de Grace
has a connection with the Revolutionary War, reflected in the
names of streets today. There is a Washington Street, Lafayette
Street, Congress Avenue, Revolution  Street,
Union Avenue and Adams Street.
In 1776 there were only
12,765 persons living in the entire county of Harford County.
Havre de Grace, a village of only a few houses in Harford County,
was burned by the British in 1777. Havre de Grace was again on
the map in the Revolutionary War when in September of 1781 Revolutionary
War troops camped in Havre de Grace in route to Yorktown and
then once again after Cornwallis' surrender.
In 1799, the year Washington
died, Havre de Grace was considered to become the capitol of
the United States. A detailed map and survey of the area was
drawn, but Havre de Grace lost to Washington D.C. by one vote.
The White House might have been in Havre de Grace.
“Washington slept
here” stories are told in Havre de Grace and perhaps he
did. He would have traveled the Old Post Road. It is known that
Washington slept across the river in Perryville. The accepted
story of the naming of Havre de Grace is that during the Revolution
when the French General Lafayette saw the town he exclaimed,
“C'est Le Harve de Grace.” His remark was found in
his journal and it was also used in a survey map. The town reminded
him of the French seaport, Le Havre. Incorporated in 1785, the
name Havre de Grace means “Harbor of Grace.”
Havre de Grace was involved
in a war again during the War of 1812. The British burned and
plundered the town on the 3rd of May 1813.
The Concord Point Lighthouse
in Havre de Grace was built in 1827. It is the oldest continuously
operated lighthouse in the state of Maryland. It is located the
northernmost point of the Chesapeake Bay where the Susquehanna
River meets the tidal flow of the bay. Hazardous conditions made
the lighthouse necessary at that location.
Because of the location
of Havre de Grace, it was a  center of early activity.
The canal system, important to early industry, ended at Havre
de Grace. The Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal provided an alternative
to the horse drawn wagon for moving freight. They hauled coal,
lumber, grain and iron products. The forty-five mile canal was
most active around 1870 and ran to Wrightsville, Pennsylvania.
Mule-drawn canal boats were raised a total of 233 feet in a system
of 28 lift locks.
Another important development
in transportation in the early years was the Baltimore and Port
Deposit Railroad. It was completed as far as Havre de Grace in
1826. It became the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad
and is not AMTRAK. AMTRAK stops in nearby Perryville today.
An interesting river story
is that in 1852, the Susquehanna River froze so hard that railroad
tracks were run across the ice at Havre de Grace. At the time
of the Civil War in 1865, the construction of the first railroad
bridge across the Susquehanna River was completed.
Source: Harford County
Maryland Historical Society
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