To get to Bel Air from I-95, John F. Kennedy Memorial Hwy, take the MD-24 exit, (Exit # 77B) on the right, towards Bel Air. Drive 0.3 miles and merge onto Emmorton Rd/MD-24 North. Drive 5.5 miles, then turn right onto Baltimore Pike/US Rt 1. Drive 0.7 miles and turn left onto S. Main Street/US-1/MD-924 North. Drive 0.1 miles and turn right onto Courtland Street. Drive a short distance to your destination at Bel Air. History Links

History

The early records of Harford County clearly show that at the time of the settlement of Maryland in 1634 several tribes of Indians occupied the territory. As the Susquehannocks used the lands of northern Harford for their hunting ground, it is most probable that - due to their custom of living near streams of water - they occupied the land near both Bynum’s Run and Winter’s Run.

Between 1700 and 1725, the land in the Bel Air vicinity had been cleared, the Indians had gone, and several tracts had been acquired by various owners, among whom were the Scott, Bond, and Hays families. In 1701 a patent was issued to Daniel Scott for a tract of land called "Scott’s Improvement." In 1731 a certificate of resurvey was issued to him for "Scott’s Improvement Enlarged." These tracts together with "Scott’s Friendship," acquired by an earlier patent, contained 393 acres. Upon the death of Daniel Scott, title passed to a son by the same name, who conveyed the estate to his son, James Scott, in 1745.

In 1761 James Scott left to his son, Benjamin, a portion of the tract described as "the part above the branch where Joseph Norris lives, which branch descends to a spring called ‘School House Spring’." He left another part of "Scott’s Improvement Enlarged", described as "The Plantation," to his son, Aquila. It was on this part of the tract that "Scott’s Old Fields" or Bel Air had its beginning.

The town dates back to 1780 when it was laid out with the center on the highest elevation and sloping in all directions from the courthouse lot. The first building lot was conveyed by Aquila Scott to his son, Daniel Scott. Lot Number 2 was deeded by Aquila Scott to the Trustees of the Methodist Church in 1789.

Conveyances were made at that early date by reference to lot numbers on an unrecorded plat and by particular descriptions. In 1890 the original plat was in the hands of the Harford Historical society and a copy was recorded in the Clerk’s Office by Dr. George W Archer. The plat shows forty-two lots of 75 feet width, twenty-one of which were on each side of Main Street. The entire plat extends from near Lee Street on the north to about 150 feet below the Baltimore Pike on the South, and from Bond Street on the west to Dallam Place and Hickory Avenue on the east. Of the forty-two lots, Thomas A. Hays owned the greatest number, fifteen in all.

In 1782 the justices of Harford County authorized Daniel Scott, Son of Aquila, to lay out the two and five-eighths acres designated for the courthouse and other public buildings. This lot, which was purchased for approximately $120, included the land on which the courthouse and the county office building, directly across Main Street, now stands. From recorded wills and deeds, it is shown that the original "Scott’s Old Fields" bordered on the property of William Bond in the west. Joshua Bond and Buckler Bond laid out the present Bond Street in 1818.

The spelling of the name of Bel Air has been the cause of much discussion. An Act of Legislature of 1782, which provided for an election to determine the location of a county seat, designated the place for which votes would be cast. They were Scott’s Old Fields, Gravelly, Lower Cross Roads, Harford Town or Bush, and Otter Point. However, the later Act of 1784, which provided for a new election, stated that the contest should be between Havre de Grace and Belle Air, spelled with two "l"s and an "e." In all deeds made by Aquila Scott the name is spelled with two "l"s, but the "e" is dropped. In the court records of 1786, the name is spelled as at present, Bel Air, and all subsequent court records show it that way. Some writers continued the old spelling for many years. A newspaper, the HARFORD REPUBLICAN, published in 1833, still retained the name as Belle Air.

In 1830 there were only twenty-seven dwellings in Bel Air, only two of which were on Bond Street. Included in this number were four hotels, a large boarding school, and the Academy. There were four lawyers living in the town, Colonel L. D. Maulsby, Otho Scott, Albert Constable and William B Bond.

Citizens were planning for protection of their property by 1834. In that year a lottery was authorized for the purchase and maintenance of fire apparatus.

By an Act of Legislature in 1874, Bel Air became an incorporated town, with a board of five commissioners elected by popular vote. Property qualification act stated that a resident must be assessed for at least $100 in order to have voting privileges.

On a map of 1858, the present Courtland Street was called Leeds Street, Port Deposit Avenue was Green Street, Baltimore Pike was Rose Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue was Monmouth Street. A later map published by Martenet in 1878 shows the town extending southward to the Baltimore Pike, northward to Broadway, and westward only as far as Bond Street. The selection of Bel Air as the county seat was a factor in the early growth and development of the town. 1

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1 Our Harford Heritage by C. Million Wright, published 1967

Links

Bel Air High School BASEBALL
Bel Air, MD 21014

Bel Air Newcomer's Club
P O Box 1305
Abingdon, MD 21009-6305

Harford County Public Schools: Board of Education
45 East Gordon Street, Bel Air 21014
(410) 838-7300

Jerusalem Mill
P.O. Box 480
2813 Jerusalem Road
Kingsville, MD 21087
(410) 877-3560

Freedom Federal Credit Union
Festival at Bel Air
(Rt. 24 and Bel Air South Parkway)
Bel Air, MD 21014
410-676-5700 410-679-2440 (Baltimore)
1-800-440-4120

Mothers and More Harford County
c/o Mary Warder
327 Bynum Road,Forest Hill, MD 21050
(410) 838-4386