Historical Timeline – Dickeyville, Baltimore

1662

Richard Gwin granted a tract of land along the stream that now bears his name, Gwynn’s Falls, with exclusive rights to trade with the Algonquins.

1719

Peter Bond, Richard Gwin’s son-in-law builds a mill in the vicinity.

1759

John Shly builds a grist mill near present-day Dickeyville

1778

Martin Tschudy, a Swiss mill owner, buys the mill and a stone house from Shly

1808

Oldest houses in village date from this period

c. 1808

Franklin Paper Mill starts production. Village is known as Franklinville

1814

Franklin Woolen Mill built

1830

Wethered family, John, Charles, and George, purchase Franklin Mill. Name of village is changed to Wetheredsville

1843

Ashland Mill (now the Ballymena Mill) built on the site of a paper mill owned by Samuel Tschudy from 1821

1845

John Wethered elected to Congress

1849

Ashland Chapel dedicated

1866

Powhatan Dam breaks and floods the village.

1867

Village again flooded. Wethereds again repair damage to mills and equipment

1868

Covered bridge over Gwynn’s Falls destroyed in Freshet—a flood caused by heavy rains

1872

Wethereds sell mills, 300 acres of land and unspecified number of houses to William J. Dickey for $82,000. Distinctive wooden frame houses built for workers, together with a warehouse and company store, signaling a period of expansion

1885

Wetheredsville Presbyterian Church dedicated. Completed 1889

1896

After the death of William J. Dickey, name of village changed to Dickeyville. Wetheredsville Presbyterian Church renamed Dickey Memorial Presbyterian Church.

1909

Mills leased by Ashland Manufacturing Company of Baltimore. With the Stock Market crash of 1929, village goes into decline and is renamed Hillsdale

1932

Muralist R.McGill Mackall converts Mill Warehouse into a studio and home

1934

Village bought at auction by developers for $42,000; Two weeks after the sale, the Franklin Mill complex is destroyed by fire. Restoration and gentrification begins. Name is changed back to Dickeyville and major streets are renamed.

1938

Dickeyville Community Association founded

c. 1960

Ashland Chapel converted into private residence

1972

Village listed in the National Register of Historic Places