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Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area - SITE
Mason-Dixon Trail System
The Mason Dixon Trail connects the Appalachian Trail with the Brandywine Trail. This 190-mile long trail starts at Whiskey Springs, on the Appalachian Trail, in Cumberland County, PA and heads east towards the Susquehanna River, passing through Pinchot State Park en route. The trail then follows the west bank of the Susquehanna south to Havre de Grace in Maryland. Across the river, the M-DT continues east passes through Elk Neck State Forest, then on to Iron Hill Park in Delaware, north along the Christina River and White Clay Creek to the White Clay Creek Preserve. The trail then heads northeast to its eastern terminus at Chadds Ford, PA on the banks of the Brandywine River.
More about the trail's namesake... On June 20, 1632 King Charles I gave a charter to Lord Baltimore for Maryland with a northern border on the 40th parallel. On March 4, 1681 King Charles II issued William Penn a land charter- the only plot of land still available on America’s east coast (west of New Jersey, north of Maryland and south of New York). Unfortunately, the 40th parallel did not follow a natural boundary (i.e. a river), so east-west deeds, like this one granted by the King of England were difficult to recognize. Land around the 40th parallel became subject to the Border War between Lord Baltimore’s Maryland and William Penn’s Pennsylvania.
Locally, In 1729 the fifth Lord Baltimore gave a Maryland land grant given for 150-acres in current day Lower Windsor Township (just south of Wrightsville), York County to Col. Thomas Cressap to collect taxes for Maryland, operate a ferry across the Susquehanna and act as a Justice of the Peace. He called the 150-acres of land "Pleasant Garden". Fighting between militias from Pennsylvania and Maryland erupted. In 1738, King George II intervened and forced a peaceful resolution; however, the border was still disputed.
Finally, in 1763, the descendents of the first Lord Baltimore and William Penn agreed to settle the disputes over the exact boundaries. Between 1763 and 1767, Charles Mason, an astronomer, and his assistant, Jeremiah Dixon, were hired to survey Pennsylvania’s borders with Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Although the work was completed in four years, opposition by Native American tribes delayed its completion until 1784. The surveying cost the descendents $75,000. The new border ran 244 miles westward from the Delaware River and became known as the Mason-Dixon Line. Over time, this line grew to symbolize the Northern and Southern states.
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