Historic Significance: Belmont, a National Register property, is one of the oldest, surviving colonial plantations in the County and one of Howard County’s most unique landmarks.

Threat: Development. Current plans for Belmont call for the extension of public water and sewer, the construction of more than 100,000 sq. feet of additions and new buildings, and roads and parking areas that violate the spirit of the preservation easement drafted by the Smithsonian Institution in 1983 to protect this significant historic asset.

Listed on the National Historic Register, Belmont was built in 1738 by Caleb and Priscilla Dorsey on a tract patented in 1695 as "Moore’s Morning Choice." The property remained in the extended Dorsey family for 229 years.

Belmont is completely surrounded by the Patapsco State Park and by private land under conservation easements for nearly a half-mile in every direction. The land surrounding Belmont is as significant as the house itself; the rolling hills, pasture and woods remain much as they were in the days of Caleb Dorsey: thus the setting is similar to what existed in 1738 when the Belmont lands exceeded 1,300 acres.

The Dorseys’ farmed their extensive land holdings and built and operated forges and iron furnaces along the Patapsco River near Elk Ridge Landing. For over 100 years, ships bearing goods manufactured in England sailed from the Chesapeake Bay up the Patapsco River for six miles to Elk Ridge Landing, the last deep water portion of the Patapsco before the first falls of the Piedmont.

The Dorsey’s of Morning Choice, their land, and their methods of doing business were a significant part of this early economic, social, and cultural history of the Patapsco valley. This cultural landscape is the last surviving relic of the prominent position occupied by Elk Ridge Landing as an inland, deepwater shipping port and industrial powerhouse in the lower Patapsco valley during the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the 20th century, Belmont was owned by Howard and Mary Bruce. Mr. Bruce was a prominent industrialist and financier. Known for his superior organizing ability, during WWII he became the first civilian to administer the Army’s production, procurement and delivery of vital supplies. For this valuable service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.