What the Land Remembers: Many Voices from North Point's Past

Since 2024, the Baltimore Community Archaeology Lab (BCAL) at Towson University has been conducting investigations at three archaeological sites in North Point State Park (Figure 1). This ongoing project demonstrates the variety of meanings a place can have for different people, and the importance of understanding the significance of places through hearing many voices.

Figure 1: Towson University student Maggie Fahey and a volunteer excavate a unit in a shell midden in site 18BA364 at North Point State Park (photo credit: Alex Wright).

People have been living on North Point, also known as Patapsco Neck, in what is now Edgemere, Maryland since ca. 3500 BC, but North Point is best known for its connection with the Battle of North Point in the War of 1812. The Battle of North Point was fought on September 12, 1814, approximately 5 miles north of the area where BCAL excavations have been undertaken. The battle was fought between General John Stricker’s Maryland Militia and a British force led by Major-General Robert Ross. Although the Americans were driven from the field, they were able to do so in good order having inflicted significant casualties on the British, killing Ross and demoralizing the troops under his command. This setback prompted Colonel Arthur Brooke to delay the British advance against Baltimore, giving to the Americans valuable time to properly prepare for the defense of the city.

The component of the Battle of North Point closest to the area we have been working is the landing point of Major-General Ross, approximately one mile to the southwest, and the Todd house (18BA370), approximately a quarter mile to the southwest. The Todd property, now known as Todd’s Inheritance, was occupied by Bernard Todd, his wife Mary Green Todd, their six children, and seventeen enslaved people. In 1813, Major General Samuel Smith, appointed to command the militia in defense of Baltimore, ordered Colonel William McDonald to post troops on the neck of North Point to prevent the encroachment of the British squadron under Admiral George Cockburn, who had been raiding and burning small towns up and down the Chesapeake Bay for several months. McDonald established his headquarters at the Todd house. Bernard Todd, who was serving in the militia as a private in Captain Stansbury’s company of the 6th Cavalry Regiment, was often posted as a look-out in his own home. Once Major-General Ross landed on North Point, the Todd house was burned to the ground because of its use by the American military. The Todd house was rebuilt in 1816, relatively close to its original location.

The Todd family has a long history on North Point. On August 17, 1664, Thomas Todd of Gloucester County, Virginia purchased three properties from Thomas Powell, “Roade River” (later known as “Old Road”), “Richardson”, and “Powell’s Point”, amounting to 687.5 acres. This was the first of many land acquisitions in Maryland by the Todds, whose holdings on North Point would eventually total over 1,000 acres. By the time the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, the property was owned by Thomas Todd V. The Federal Direct Tax Assessment in 1798 indicates that Captain William Todd was the occupant of the house and 30 enslaved people ranging in age from 12 to 50 lived and worked on the property (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Run Away Advertisement posted by Thomas Todd V in the Maryland Journal, and the Baltimore Advertiser, June 7, 1783. Maryland State Archives. Legacy of Slavery in Maryland, "Runaway Ads," Accessed February 19, 2026. https://slavery2.msa.maryland.gov/pages/Search.aspx.

Thomas Todd V signed the Oath of Allegiance in 1778, an oath swearing allegiance to the state of Maryland and denying allegiance and obedience to Great Britain. As enacted by the Maryland General Assembly in 1777, all voters were required to take the oath no later than March 1, 1778. Over the course of the Revolutionary War, life continued much as usual on the tobacco plantation owned by the Todds. For an enslaved couple named Sam and Hagar, that meant fleeing the Todd plantation in 1783.

Fifty-seven years prior to Thomas Todd’s 1665 arrival in Baltimore County, Captain John Smith stopped at Old Road Bay on June 12 and again on June 14, 1608. Smith did not note any Indigenous people living on what would come to be called North Point, although a southerly wind and a strong northward tidal current may have caused Captain Smith to keep moving along the western shore rather than exploring it thoroughly. Two years of archaeological investigations at North Point State Park indicate that perhaps only a couple hundred years or fewer before Captain Smith arrived there was a robust Indigenous presence on North Point.

Interpreted with the input of representatives of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe and Pocomoke

Indian Nation, archaeological sites 18BA362, 18BA364, and 18BA631 appear to represent

summer gathering places for related bands. The three sites are located on slightly

elevated landforms along the eastern shore of Shallow Creek, an area that has been

heavily plowed by the Todds, who owned the land until 1975. The land passed briefly to the

Cook family in 1975 before transferring to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources

in 1999. Throughout that time, the land remaining under cultivation, contributing to substantial erosion of the three Middle and Late Woodland (ca. AD 50-1600) encampments on the point. Archaeological investigations to date indicate that the Indigenous people living at these sites were there engaging in a pattern of seasonal congregation, gathering for oyster harvesting

and reaffirming social bonds between groups. While there, they engaged in stone tool

production and retooling, relying primarily on local materials, with some evidence for trade

in non-local rhyolite, jasper, and chert. Future archaeological investigations will help clarify

whether they were producing pottery at these sites or just bringing it with them, and

whether they relied entirely on wild plants for vegetable foods or if cultigens accounted

for a significant portion of their diet.

What is clear from investigations to date is the variety of ways people have engaged with the land at North Point. While the most common story told about the area is that of the Battle of North Point and the burning of the Todd house, over the last 250 years and more, many other people have been connected to the land. From British soldiers, to families enslaved by the Todds, to Indigenous Americans, the story of North Point can only be told with the inclusion of many voices.