Port Deposit’s post office opened in 1816, and 42% of its homes were built before 1940
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 205 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1833 on and old-book passages.
The first recorded European visits to the area were the 1608 and 1609 expeditions led by Captain John Smith up the Chesapeake Bay. He sailed about 2 miles (3.2 km) up the Susquehanna River to the present location of Port Deposit, and gave the name of "Smythe Fayles" to the rapids just above the future town.
Passages that mention Port Deposit, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cecil County, Maryland, and the early settlements around the head of Chesapeake Bay and on the Delaware River, with sketches of some of the old families of Cecil County1881 · page 431Read the page →
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ton and Baltimore Railroad, from Philadelphia to Wilmington ; the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad, from Wilmington to Susquehanna River; and the Baltimore and Port Deposit Railroad, from that river to Baltimore. These companies were consolidated in February, 1838, under the name of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Cecil County, Maryland, and the early settlements around the head of Chesapeake Bay and on the Delaware River, with sketches of some of the old families of Cecil County1881 · page 466Read the page →
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The next journal that claims our attention was called the Cecil Whig and Port Deposit Weekly Courier. It was founded by Lynde Elliott at Port Deposit in July, 1835 ; was twentyone by thirty-two inches, and was published every Saturday, at two dollars per year, or three dollars if not paid in advance. It was devoted to the interest of the Whig party, but did not prove to be a success, and consequently did not live a great while ; how long has not been ascertained, but
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Port Deposit, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Port Deposit post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1824.
What is on the National Register in Port Deposit?
4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Paw Paw Building (listed 1977, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Port Deposit and the Tome School for Boys Historic District, with 205 contributing buildings. 210 historic buildings in all.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1833
1898
c. 1930