Baltimore Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===18th century=== {{See also|Henry Fite House}} [[File:Baltimore in 1752.png|thumb|Baltimore, then known as Baltimore Town, in 1752|alt=Open green space with sparse, nice houses, ships, and clean water]] The colonial [[Maryland General Assembly|General Assembly of Maryland]] created the [[Port of Baltimore]] at old Whetstone Point, now [[Locust Point, Baltimore|Locust Point]], in 1706 for the [[Tobacco in the American Colonies|tobacco trade]]. The Town of Baltimore, on the west side of the Jones Falls, was founded on August 8, 1729, when the Governor of Maryland signed an act allowing "the building of a Town on the North side of the Patapsco River." Surveyors began laying out the town on January 12, 1730. By 1752 the town had just 27 homes, including a church and two taverns.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://ghostsofbaltimore.org/2014/03/10/baltimore-history-traced-street-names/|title=Baltimore History Traced in Street Names|last=Tom|date=March 10, 2014|website=Ghosts of Baltimore |access-date=February 24, 2019}}</ref> Jonestown and Fells Point had been settled to the east. The three settlements, covering {{Convert|60|acres|ha|abbr=out}}, became a commercial hub, and in 1768 were designated as the county seat.<ref>Brooks & Rockel (1979), pp. 29–30.</ref> The first printing press was introduced to the city in 1765 by [[Nicholas Hasselbach (printer)|Nicholas Hasselbach]], whose equipment was later used in the printing of Baltimore's first newspapers, [[List of newspapers in Maryland#Defunct|''The Maryland Journal'' and ''The Baltimore Advertiser'']], first published by [[William Goddard (publisher)|William Goddard]] in 1773.<ref>[[#thomas1874a|Thomas, 1874]], p. 323</ref><ref name=wroth1938-41>[[#wroth1938|Wroth, 1938]], p. 41</ref><ref>[[#wroth1922|Wroth, 1922]], p. 114</ref> Baltimore grew swiftly in the 18th century, its plantations producing grain and tobacco for [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean]]. The profit from sugar encouraged the cultivation of cane in the Caribbean and the importation of food by planters there.<ref>{{cite news|title=History behind sugar trade, Chesapeake not always sweet|url=http://www.bayjournal.com/article/history_behind_sugar_trade_chesapeake_not_always_sweet|author=Kent Mountford|date=July 1, 2003|work=Bay Journal|access-date=February 20, 2014|archive-date=February 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226150334/http://www.bayjournal.com/article/history_behind_sugar_trade_chesapeake_not_always_sweet|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since Baltimore was the county seat, a courthouse was built in 1768 to serve both the city and county. Its square was a center of community meetings and discussions. Baltimore established its [[Baltimore Public Markets|public market system]] in 1763.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpmarkets.com/history.html|title=History|first=Mallika|publisher=Baltimore Public Markets Corporation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812172407/http://bpmarkets.com/history.html|archive-date=August 12, 2015|access-date=August 4, 2015|last=Sharan}}</ref> [[Lexington Market]], founded in 1782, is one of the oldest continuously operating public markets in the United States today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lexingtonmarket.com/|title=World Famous Lexington Market|author=Mallika Sharan|work=lexingtonmarket.com|access-date=August 4, 2015}}</ref> Lexington Market was also a center of slave trading. Enslaved Black people were sold at numerous sites through the downtown area, with sales advertised in ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-06-20/topic/9906220293_1_slave-trade-buy-slaves-slaves-were-sold|title=The secret history of city slave trade|date=June 20, 1999 }}</ref> Both tobacco and sugar cane were labor-intensive crops. In 1774, Baltimore established the first post office system in what became the United States,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/70650/25-things-you-should-know-about-baltimore |magazine=[[Mental Floss]] |title=25 Things You Should Know About Baltimore |first=Megan |last=Thielking |date=November 10, 2015 |access-date=December 19, 2015 |quote=In 1774, the first post office in the United States was inaugurated in the city. }}</ref> and the first water company chartered in the newly independent nation, Baltimore Water Company, 1792.<ref name=firsts>{{cite web |url=http://baltimore.org/info/baltimore-firsts |title=Baltimore: A City of Firsts |work=Visit Baltimore |access-date=February 6, 2016 |archive-date=February 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203185423/http://baltimore.org/info/baltimore-firsts }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/chron/html/bcitychron18.html |title=Baltimore City, Maryland Historical Chronology |access-date=January 20, 2015 |publisher=Maryland State Archives |date=December 7, 2015 }}</ref> Baltimore played a part in the [[American Revolution]]. City leaders such as [[Jonathan Plowman Jr.]] led many residents to [[No taxation without representation|resist British taxes]], and merchants signed agreements refusing to trade with Britain.<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/centennialoffer01nilegoog| quote=baltimore non-importation agreement.| title=Principles and Acts of the Revolution in America|author=Hezekiah Niles|publisher=A. S. Barnes & Co.| year=1876| location=New York| pages=[https://archive.org/details/centennialoffer01nilegoog/page/n268 257]–258}}</ref> The [[Second Continental Congress]] met in the [[Henry Fite House]] from December 1776 to February 1777, effectively making the city the [[List of capitals in the United States|capital of the United States]] during this period.<ref>{{cite web| title=Henry Fite's House, Baltimore| url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/buildings/section4| publisher=U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian| access-date=March 23, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110326035248/http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/buildings/section4| archive-date=March 26, 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> Baltimore, [[Jonestown, Baltimore|Jonestown]], and [[Fells Point, Baltimore|Fells Point]] were [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] as the City of Baltimore in 1796–1797. 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