Snowden Time Line
- 1686 - King Charles II grants "Robin Hood's Forest" to Richard Snowden, through Lord Baltimore; 1,976 acres.
- 1690 - Birmingham Manor is built by Richard Snowden Jr. on the "Old Post Road" in the Robin Hood's Forest section of the Snowden estate facing the Patuxent River. The present day site is on the east side of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway opposite Laurel (Suburban) Airport.
- 1736 - Sept. 29 - A patent is granted to Patuxent Iron Works Co. which erected smelting plants on Patuxent River, organized by Richard Snowden Jr.
- 1753 - Richard Snowden Jr. dies.
- 1763 - Richard Snowden Sr., the "Iron Master", divides the iron works between three sons John, Thomas and Samuel Snowden. Richard Snowden Sr. also dies in 1763.
- 1794 - June 20 - State of Maryland Map by Dennis Griffith indicates forge and furnace operated by Snowdens on Big Patuxent River at Brock Bridge Road and at Little Patuxent River on Old Tank Road at Forge Bridge. A Snowden mill is seen on the map just below the big river site. This is probably the grist mill referred to as being four miles below Laurel as it is measured as that distance on the Hopkins map.
- 1798 - Federal District Tax, Anne Arundel County, Md., Snowden & Company, owners, were charged an assessment of $816 on 204 acres which included: forge house, small out houses, one dwelling 12 x 16, out house 10 x 12, out house 10 x 14.
- 1801 - Iron works company terminated after being operated from December 24th 1775 to January 2 1801 by the three brothers.
- 1803 - Thomas Snowden dies.
- 1831 - Snowden Iron Works, consisting of a furnace and forge, was sold by Thomas, Richard and Edward Snowden to Evan T. Ellicott and Company who erected another furnace 28 feet high and 8 feet wide at the boshes, and a puddling furnace and roughing mills. (From Maryland Geological Survey, Vol. 9, 1911.)
- 1860 - Martinet Map, Maryland Hall of Records, Annapolis, Md., shows "Works Bridge" over the Big Patuxent River at the current Brock Bridge Road and a "Blk. S. Shop", blacksmith shop, at or near the site of the forge. It also shows the current Switchboard Road intersecting with Brock Bridge Road and "R.H. Snowden" southeast of the intersection. Another "R.H. Snowden" notation appears north of Switchboard Road and west of the current Combat Road at the notch formed by two unnamed streams west of Thomas Branch.
- 1878 - Hopkins Map, Maryland Hall of Records, Annapolis, Md., shows "Iron works, G & S Mill", (grist and saw mill), at the same location as the forge site. However the notations of R.H. Snowden have been changed to Wm. Snowden but are in the same locations.
- 1891 - August 20 - Birmingham Manor destroyed by fire.
- 1917 - Ft. Meade established. (Also called Ft. Leonard Wood for a short time.)
- 1939 - Susie C. Beall (now deceased) of Beltsville visited Birmingham Manor site and interviewed Julius Snowden, his wife Estelle and her sister Anna Bird. Julius had built a "bungalow" on the ruins of the manor house. Miss Beall wrote that the old foundation is surrounded by many of the original trees and boxwood.
- 1941 - Birmingham Manor site is made part of Ft. Meade.
- 1991 - July 16th - Iron works site is found, just off Patuxent property. Patuxent Historic Project begins when Patuxent Research Refuge grants special permission to survey the property. Despite the Army's removal of all pre-existing structures, many historic sites remain. Birmingham Manor site is also located.
