The B&O was America’s first rail line. Just up the Patapsco River from Relay, where they used to change the horse teams which pulled the original rail carts, is Patapsco Valley State Park (Avalon Section). It shares this part of the river basin with the line to Ellicott City and points west. CSX still uses the line.  The Park is also the location of the Thomas Viaduct, the worlds longest curved stone railroad bridge, built in 1835 which crosses the river as the Capital Subdivision rail. Bridge 12 was built in 1869 to cross one of the creeks feeding the Patapsco. The Orange Grove Mill was one of the nation’s largest suppliers of flour by 1900.

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