Few realize today that Wrightsville/Columbia along the Susquehanna was an important force in the settlement patterns that shaped the sometimes violent border dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland—and helped to tilt the balance in Pennsylvania’s favor.
One of the most important developing roads in all the colonies in the early to mid-1700s was the Philadelphia to Lancaster Road. Philadelphia was fast becoming the most developed and prosperous city in the colonies. Lancaster was emerging as the most important inland town in British North America. Wright’s Ferry (which became Columbia) was becoming one the most important frontier towns in the state.
This area functioned as a regional trading point within the broader fur trade network. When John Wright launched Wright’s Ferry in 1730, the trickle of Pennsylvania settlers turned into a stream. Hundreds of claims were put on land in the next decade; Hellam Township was created in 1739. The Lancaster-Wright’s Ferry route quickly became one of the most important river crossings in the state.
But there was a problem: Maryland had a technically valid claim to most of the land across the Susquehanna. Lord Baltimore had been granted title up to the 40th parallel. And both Lancaster and Philadelphia were below that line. Wright’s Ferry (Columbia) itself was just barely north of it.
This created violent armed conflicts between settlers representing Maryland and those representing Pennsylvania.
Thomas Cresap was a flashpoint. He was sent from Maryland to counter the influx of Pennsylvania settlers and re-establish Maryland’s presence with his own ferry that is opposite of Washington Boro. The land he occupied is now the Zimmerman Center for Heritage.
Since the land was technically Maryland’s, he acted as land agent with the settlers. What is known as Cresap’s War was actually a series of skirmishes between the different settlers, with him at the thick of it. Both sides were fairly irascible with each other.
The 40th parallel lies just below what became Wrightsville-Columbia. Militia from both sides got involved. Violent confrontations escalated until Pennsylvanians burned Cresap’s house down and arrested him in 1736. Upon entering Philadelphia, the unbowed Cresap is said to have remarked, “That’s the prettiest town in all Maryland.”
The irony is, he was technically correct.
Penn believed Philadelphia lay north of Maryland’s boundary, but early geographic measurements were not very precise. In any case, the confluence of the Delaware River, the eastern terminus of the east-west Indian Great Minquas Path, and the north-south Great Warrior’s Path made it a perfect choice to found the city.
The British courts took the expedient route of allowing Philadelphia’s claim to stand. But would they include Lancaster? What about just below Wrightsville? (It had not been renamed Columbia yet).
The reality on the ground was that Maryland did not have a good route to the area. The Susquehanna was difficult for large-scale transport to navigate. The Lancaster-Wright’s Ferry road was one of the most important and well-traveled frontier roads in the state. So the settlers that poured in were Pennsylvanians.
The administrative reality is that Pennsylvania had a dynamic migration corridor from Philadelphia through Lancaster and Wright’s Ferry. It had the settlers, farms, local leaders, land licenses, and townships—fueling further interior development that in 1749 became York County. Pennsylvania was developing the western frontier, not Maryland.
The Crown ruled in a temporary boundary decision in favor of Pennsylvania, and in 1767 the Mason-Dixon Line permanently settled the boundary between the two colonies.
The interesting thing is if one looks on the map, it is clear that this cut Maryland’s westward expansion off “at the knees”. One wonders if a hidden subtext here is the British Protestant-Catholic struggle playing out. For “Mary-Land” was of course a Catholic stronghold. But we can only speculate.
Wright’s Ferry did more than move people across the Susquehanna. It moved Pennsylvania itself across the river, and contributed to redefining the boundaries with its southern neighbor. At the Wright’s Ferry-Wrightsville crossing, every wagon, family, and land claim made the disputed country more Pennsylvanian.
We can only speculate how things might have turned out without the settlement of Wrightsville-Columbia. This was only the beginning of the critical importance of the Philadelphia-Lancaster-Columbia corridor to the story of the development of Pennsylvania— and the formation of America.
