Series Information
FREDERICK COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
(Frederick and Harpers Ferry Road Proceedings)
1852-1863
C791
Series Description
Minutes of meetings concerning the Frederick and Harpers Ferry
Road. In 1815 (Ch. 166) the General Assembly chartered the
Harpers Ferry Turnpike Road Company to build a toll road between
the cities of Frederick and Harpers Ferry. A new company,
Frederick and Harpers Ferry Road Company, was formed in 1828 to
take over the road and make improvements (Ch. 142, Acts of 1828;
Ch. 163, Acts of 1829). In 1848 the company transferred the road
and its attendant corporate rights and franchises to the county
government. Included in the transfer was one book of minutes,
dated 1830-1848 and arranged chronologically by meeting date.
Business matters handled by the company consisted of elections of
officers and managers, surveys, road construction and
maintenance, appointments of toll keepers, collections of stock
subscriptions and tolls, payments of expenses and dividends, and
lotteries to raise money. Recorded in the proceedings are
agreements concerning road beds taken over by the C & O Canal and
B & O Railroad.
In 1848 the governing body of the county was the levy court,
replaced by the board of county commissioners in 1851. The
proceedings pertaining to the Frederick and Harpers Ferry Road
continued to be recorded separately until 1863 and are arranged
chronologically by meeting date. Generally business matters
remained the same except for a heavier domination of financial
considerations. The county commissioners appointed a road
superintendent to manage daily operations. Included in the county
proceedings are four plats, folded and pasted to the covers of
the book.
The Archives will use the existing series unit databases for an
electronic finding aid, expanded by itemized descriptions for the
plats.