MARYLAND.Mā´re-land.
One of the thirteen original States; named in honor of Maria, wife of Charles II., King of England; first permanent settlement made by English Roman Catholics at St. Mary's, 1634.
Area, 12,210 square miles; greatest length, east and west, 196 miles; seacoast, 83 miles, or, including the tidewater region of Chesapeake Bay, 411 miles, and, with shores of islands, 509 miles. Number counties, 23. Temperature at Baltimore: winter, 33° to 41°; summer, 73° to 79°; rainfall, 41 inches.
Baltimore, the metropolis; laid out 1730; port of entry and commercial centre; has regular lines European steamers; pop., 332,313. Annapolis, capital; contains United States Naval Academy; pop. 5,744. Cumberland, depot of western mining region; pop., 10,693.
Number farms, 1860, 25,494; 1880, 40,517. Average value per acre cleared land, $24.65; woodland, $35.50.
Value principal orchard products,—peaches, pears, plums and apples,—nearly $2,000,000; canned and preserved fruits and vegetables, over $2,000,000; oyster fisheries, nearly $5,000,000.