Patapsco Female Institute Chronology
| Year | Event |
1733 |
Maryland General Assembly passed a law to erect a town at Elk Ridge Landing where tobacco was loaded aboard ships. |
| 1772 | The Ellicott’s arrive and set up grains mills on the Patapsco River |
| 1829 | The Ellicott family sets aside seven acres as a site for the Patapsco Female Institute. Additional land is donated. |
| 1834 | January: A charter is granted for the school. February: A Board of Trustees is appointed. October: Construction begins. |
| 1837 | The Patapsco Female Institute opens. January: Classes begin. May: The school building is completed. |
| 1839 | The Howard District of Anne Arundel County was created. Until this time what we call Howard County was part of Anne Arundel County and was for awhile a part of Baltimore County. |
| 1841 | Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps becomes principal of the Institute and establishes a national reputation for the school. |
| 1851 | Howard County was created. The county is 251 square miles, making it the second smallest in the state and the only county completely surrounded by other counties. |
| 1856 | Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps resigns as principal after her daughter, Jane Lincoln, is killed in a train accident. |
| 1857 | The building’s first addition, the chapel wing, is completed |
| 1860 | Just before Civil War broke out, Howard County’s population was listed as 13,300. |
| 1861 - 1865 | With the advent of the Civil War, the school program is sharply curtailed. Small classes graduate in 1864 and 1865. The school was briefly closed during this period. |
| 1867 | Ellicott’s Mills became the incorporated town of Ellicott City. |
| 1878 | Sarah Nicholas Randolph, Thomas Jefferson’s great-great granddaughter, becomes headmistress of the PFI. |
| 1891 | The Patapsco Female Institute closes as a result of declining enrollment. |
| 1891 | Lily Tyson Elliott restores the building and operates it as an exclusive summer retreat, the Berg Alnwyck Hotel. A swimming pool is added to the grounds. |
| 1917 | The building becomes a World War I Veteran’s convalescent hospital. |
| 1930s | The building is leased to Don Swann, Jr., for a professional summer theater. |
| 1965 | The Friends of the Patapsco Female Institute organize on September 30 for the purpose of saving the Institute. |
| 1967 | Howard County Government purchases the Institute from the University of Cincinnati. |
| 1984 | The Friends re-group and set their sights on establishing a historic gardens park. |
| 1986 | The Friends of the Patapsco Female Institute is officially re-incorporated. |
| 1987 | Phase I of Stabilization gets underway. |
| 1993 | Phase II of Stabilization begins. |
| 1995 | Stabilization of the site is complete and the grand opening and rededication of the Patapsco Female Institute as the Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park is realized. |