Historic Holiday Tour 2024
Sunday, December 8 — 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm
BELMONT MANOR AND HISTORIC PARK IN ELKRIDGE
Join the Howard County Historical Society for our holiday event. This year, we will be hosting a holiday house tour featuring historic Belmont (HO-43). Belmont is listed on the Maryland Historic Trust, Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP HO-43) located on part of what was originally 1,368 acres patented in 1695 by a Dr. Mordecai Moore who sold it to Caleb Dorsey, Sr. in 1732 who then gifted the land to his son as a wedding present. Caleb Dorsey, Jr. was an iron master and part owner of the Elkridge Iron Works that produced pig iron shipped to England. The original manor house was built in 1737 (or some docs say 1738) using brick brought over from England, making it one of the county’s earliest structures. Six generations of Dorseys have owned the house, and two senators, Howard Bruce and Alexander Contee Hanson, lived there in their lifetimes. Enslaved people lived at Belmont in the early to mid 1800’s (1860 Federal Slave Census). The house has interesting ties to the MD Hunt Cup horse race, the industry of the Patapsco Valley through its owners occupations, enslaved workers that supported in the Iron Works industry, and the political life of its day. The house has been restored and enlarged to its present state.
Iron Ore Drives Early Economy
When Captain John Smith mapped the Patapsco RIver in 1608, he stood on a ridge overlooking the valley. He noted in his journal that there was iron ore along the river banks as evidenced by the rusty color of the soil. Elkridge became a hub for the production of pig iron, which was then exported to Europe from the nearby harbor and port. The British did not allow for the production of finished iron products — pig iron are simply slabs or cylinders of iron that can be made into other products. Forests along the river provided the wood needed to fuel the furnaces and iron mines littered the valley. The dirt from the mines was often dumped into the river, soil washed away from the denuded forest floor into the Patapsco, and large ships often dumped their ballast in the harbor. Sadly, the port of Elkridge no longer exists.
Historic Belmont Manor and grounds.