A GAZETTEER OF MARYLAND. 
By Henry Gannett. 
GENEEAL DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE. 
Maryland is one of the Eastern States, bordering- on the Atlantic 
Ocean, about midway between the northern and southern boundaries 
of the country. It lies between latitudes 37° 53' and 39° 44', and 
between longitudes 75° 04 and 79° 33'. Its neighbors are Pennsyl- 
vania on the north, West Virginia and Virginia on the west and south, 
and Delaware on the east. Its north boundary is Mason and Dixon's 
line, and its east boundary is, in part, a nearly north-south line 
separating it from Delaware and Pennsylvania, and, in part, the 
Atlantic Ocean. On the south the boundary is an irregular line 
across the peninsula separating- Chesapeake Bay from the Atlantic 
Ocean; then across Chesapeake Bay to the southern point of the 
entrance to Potomac River; thence following- the low- water line on 
the south bank of the Potomac to the head of the north branch of that 
river, at a point known as Fairfax Stone, excepting the area of the 
District of Columbia. The west boundary is a meridian drawn through 
Fairfax Stone northward to Mason and Dixon's line. 
The gross area of the State, including that part of Chesapeake Bay 
in its borders, the broad estuaries at the mouths of the rivers, and the 
lagoons on the Atlantic coast, is 12,210 square miles, of which 9,860 
square miles are land area 
The topography of the State is extremely varied, ranging from 
level lands, but slightly elevated above the sea, to mountains and 
plateaus in the western part of the State, 3,000 feet in altitude. The 
peninsula east of Chesapeake Bay and a narrow strip west of that body 
of water constitute what is known as the Coastal Plain. This has an 
area of 5,000 square miles, or more than one-half of the land area of 
the State. The peninsula is very low and level, nowhere rising 100 
feet above tide, and much of it, especially near the shore of the Atlantic 
Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, is marshy. The Atlantic coast is bor- 
dered by sand bars, including broad lagoons of shallow water on their 
