Mosaic Pieces
Welcome to the complete Maryland Mosaic.
The Mosaic is not presented chronologically but presents a randomized selection of Mosaic Pieces to spark your interest in a particular event or person. If you would like to have a more ordered chronological overview, use the six fixed time period options on the right of the screen to get a more immediate picture of an historical period. You can also explore by county or by category. Our predefined categories, tags, counties and chronological brackets will help you see links between the Pieces.
The collection has over 140 firsts, including events, people, places, objects, documents or buildings that are unique to Maryland and to the nation. The Mosaic is part of Maryland’s contribution to the U.S. 250th anniversary in 2026. It covers the period from 1776 to the present. You will find at least one Piece for every county and Baltimore City, making this a statewide project.
Gaslight installed on Baltimore streets
Baltimore is first US city to light streets with gaslight in 1817 after Rembrandt Peale uses the innovation to light his museum galleries.
Fugitive Slave Act is tested in Monkton
Edward Gorsuch of Monkton, pursues 13 enslaved escapees in 1851 to Christiana, just over the Pennsylvania line. Although he has a warrant under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act., the free Black community defends the escapees and Gorsuch is killed. It is the first test of federal legislation to retrieve escaped slaves.
Frederick Douglass escapes by train from Baltimore
Frederick Douglass, born in Talbot County, escapes enslavement by train in 1838. He becomes a powerful speaker for abolition and the most photographed American in the 19th Century.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper publishes first short story by a black woman.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, born in Baltimore, abolitionist, suffragist and writer, in 1859 publishes the first short story, then a novel by a Black woman.
First use of genetic genealogy at Catoctin Furnace
The first use of DNA links 27 Black workers buried in the local cemetery of the Catoctin Furnace (c1800) and reveals links to nearly 42,000 living relatives, and traces the enslaved back to their African origins.
First Supreme Court Justice impeached
US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase (born in Somerset Cty) is impeached by US House in 1804 but found not guilty in Senate. Pres. Jefferson opposes independent power of the judiciary, supports impeachment.
First Presidential Radio Address delivered
WEAR, Maryland’s first radio station to go on the air, broadcasts the first public address of a US president, Warren G. Harding in 1922. He speaks to thousands in a 600 mile radius of Ft. McHenry using a new technology.
First Catholic Basilica in U.S.
First Catholic Basilica in the US, designed by Benjamin Latrobe, opens in Baltimore City in 1823.
First bookmobile is in Washington County
Progressive leadership at the Washington County Free Library sends out the first bookmobile in 1905 to great acclaim.
First American College of Dentistry chartered
The first American college of dentistry is chartered in 1840 by the Maryland Assembly. Prior to its founding there is no successful effort to turn dentistry into a formal profession.
Fannie May Salter, last female lighthouse keeper
Fannie May Salter serves 22 years ending in 1947 as the last female lighthouse keeper at Turkey Point Light on the Elk Neck River in Cecil County. Here she is pictured with her son and their turkeys. Her house and lighthouse are in the background.
Eubie Blake, musical pioneer in jazz and ragtime
Eubie Blake creates a landmark in the history of Broadway musical theatre in 1921. Blake teams up with Noble Sissle to launch the first All African American Broadway production, Shuffle Along, which runs for 504 performances. President Reagan presents Eubie Blake with a national award.
Entrepreneur Reginald F. Lewis creates foundation
Baltimore native Reginald Lewis, first African American to build a $1 billion corporation, creates a foundation in 1987. In 2002 it provides major support in creating the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture.
Enoch Pratt Free Library opens
In 1886 the Pratt Library is the first public library to open for all “without distinction of race or color”. The Pratt inspires the nationwide Carnegie Library system.
Elizabeth Seton, first person born in U.S. to become a saint
Elizabeth Ann Seton, born 1774, becomes first person born in US canonized as Catholic Saint in 1975.
Elizabeth Patterson of Baltimore marries Napoleon Bonaparte’s youngest brother
Elizabeth Patterson marries Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon’s youngest brother in 1803. She becomes first self-made female millionaire in US.
