The first record of the village of Dublin is found in the Act of Assembly Districts of the 18th century, which divided the county into election districts and designated Dublin the vote place for the Fifth district. Martenet's map of 1878 shows McCausland built a home on one side of what is now
Route 440 and a tavern or inn on the other side. The tavern on the southeast side was a long two-story building that was close to the road. The building had a porch on the first and second stories. In old records, reference is made of the Mt. Ararat Lodge of
Masons, Maryland, which moved its meeting place in 1809 from a tavern in
Delta, Pennsylvania to George McCausland's tavern in Dublin. The lodge remained there until 1826, then moved to the old Masonic Lodge on Bond Street in
Bel Air. On the northeast corner of Routes 440 and 136 was a small log house, with a short circular stairway and a fireplace, which was used as a school and referred to as "the academy". Along with several of the older homes, it burned in 1971. In 1858, the town had ten houses and places of business. Among the owners were McComas, Gallion, James, Rausey, J. Dougherty, and Jones. Dublin had a post office in 1878, one of the first in Harford County. At that time, the town boasted two stores, a blacksmith shop, a wheelwright shop, a church, a school, and two taverns. Dublin school was a part of the public school system in 1867 with a one-room building on present-day
Route 136 across from the present school. In 1800, Charles Beavers donated land for a
Methodist house of worship (on present-day Route 136). A log structure was first erected and later a
clapboard one-room was built which served the congregation until 1939. The Methodist bishop sent a
deacon to start a church in Dublin. The deacon was visiting Bush Chapel, on the Bush River, and traveled through Dublin to the Greenstone area, now on Baltimore Boy Scout land off Peach Orchard Road. That area was well populated with strong Methodists and also by being on the river and several mining ore mills. The area was thickly settled. Several stones can be seen which are believed to be part of the foundation the deacon started. He never returned and, in later years, a church was started in Dublin. Dublin has long been known for the incident of "
The Headless Peddler". This occurred in 1763 on John Bryarly's farm on a stream called Rock Run. After this event, the stream name was changed to Peddler's Run. The end of the story was only closed in 1843, on James Warner's farm. The road, now Route 440 through Dublin, was known as Dublin-Stafford Road. This was the main road to Bel Air and the
Susquehanna River where the commercial life was. The travel pattern of the county was from Bush River up to
Churchville, into Dublin and to the Susquehanna River; there was no
Route 1 until later years. Dublin has two old cemeteries, a north and a south. The South Cemetery is on Deerfield Road. At one time a small church was erected there for the slaves and Southern sympathizers. You can still make out the foundation lines of the church. The oldest tombstone is dated 1820, though possibly there are older unmarked slaves' graves. The other cemetery is with the Dublin United Methodist Church on Route 136. On the Martenets' map of 1858, the village was not spread out but in a small area. The Indians had mostly vacated this area by the 18th century but they had left the land poor and barren for crops. The area was known as Arabin Petra, a tract of approximately (or hundredth as was used in those days). This land was originally acquired by Dr. Charles Carroll. Usually, when a settlement was made of a town, the first three things established were a church, a school, and a jail. There is no record of a jail for Dublin. But the local story goes that if you did not live in Dublin, you better have your business in town settled by dark or else the locals would "send you packin'". == Land area ==