Reisterstown

By: Gayle Neville Blum

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Synopsis: Before it was a colonial village, Reister's Town was home to tribes of the Susquehanna who lived and hunted plentiful wildlife amidst the dense primeval woods. Travelers journeyed on narrow Native American trails from remote areas through what is now Reisterstown while on their way to the nearby bustling harbor in Baltimore Town. Dirt roads afforded a tiresome trip, and a man's throat would easily become parched from the dust. John Reister, an enterprising German immigrant, was one of these early travelers. Reister recognized that the area, only a day's travel from Baltimore, would make an ideal site for an inn where weary travelers could rest and recoup. In 1758, Reister founded the town on 20 acres that the Calverts had granted him. Soon after, in 1768, Daniel Bower, a Revolutionary War colonel, settled on nearby land and built a tavern reputed to have accommodated George Washington. By 1800, Reister's Town was a busy community boasting shops, a tannery, blacksmith, inn, and taverns, which were all vital to the growth of the town and nearby communities.