Rural Free Delivery begins

Westminster
October 6, 1896

Four letter carriers, including Joshua Corbin and his horse “Harry”, begin free daily delivery of the mail from Westminster to the rest of Carroll County. They are the first government-sponsored “guinea pigs” to test Rural Free Delivery county-wide in the U.S.


Corbin delivers about 30 pieces of mail a day. He and his colleagues are so successful that U.S. Post Office makes RFD official in 1899.

For More Information

Smithsonian National Postal Museum 

Historical Society of Carroll County 

View Other Mosaic Pieces

Baltimore riots over the War of 1812

Congress declares 1812 War. Large Baltimore mob attacks publisher of strong anti-war newspaper. Revolutionary war vet and 2 rioters are killed; many injured including Robert E. Lee’s father. Baltimore becomes known as “Mobtown.”

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Baltimore earns the label of “Mobtown”

Gangs from the Know Nothing Party and Southern sympathizers riot in Baltimore during elections. In 1857 fighting kills 17 gang members and injures 67 in the most intense violence of the Know Nothing era. Riots in “Mobtown” make national headlines.

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Land Recognition

We acknowledge the enduring presence of many American Indian tribes who once lived in Maryland and who now, having lost their lands, live in a diaspora. Read more.

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