Guilford, Maryland

Guilford is a unincorporated community located in Howard County in the state of Maryland in the United States of America.^[2] The location is named primarily for the Guilford Factory and quarry. Developers of Columbia, The Rouse Company renamed the area Kings Contrivance as one of its seven "villages". Southeastern sections are also known as Savage-Guilford.

For United States Census Bureau statistics, it is included within the Census-designated place of Savage-Guilford, Maryland. See also: Savage, Maryland.

History

The Christ Church of Guilford rebuilt in 1809.

The area around Guilford was settled before it was called by the name of its factory. In 1711, the Log Chapel of ease, now called Christ Church Guilford was founded in Northern Guilford on a piece of land surveyed as "New Year's Gift" by Charles Carrol of Carrolton. The first full-time rector was James Magill, who lived at Athol.^[3] The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.^[4]

Guilford Factory was situated on the northern branch of the Patuxent River, known as the Little Patuxent River. The first industrial settlement of the site occurred in 1750 when slavery was commonplace and Howard County had yet to be formed from Northwestern Anne Arundell County. Charles Alexander Warfield and Elizabeth Ridgley built a joint mill on land patended as "Wincopin Neck". Gristmill operations were underway by 1760.^[5][6] Later owners of the factory included Richard Ridgley.^[7] The factories were built along one of Maryland's early "rolling roads" that provided access to the tobacco markets in Annapolis town.^[8] By 1792 the site consisted of a gristmill, sawmill, blacksmith and a stable. In 1830 a granitequarry was started. Just north of the quarry, Charles Worthington built a stone home with walls two feet thick named "Moundview" that would stand until 1990 when the South Columbia Baptist Church was built on its site.^[9][10][11] Peter Gorman purchased the southern portion of "Wincopian Neck" from Dr. Charles Griffith Worthington, establishing the "Fairview" estate.^[12] By 1860, Henry A Penny built a house onsite in 1860 and worked as a hauler, he would become county commissioner in the early 1900s. From 1863 to 1890 when slave labor was unavailable the quarries were mostly stagnant. On December 31, 1874 the Guilford Post office opened and remained in operation until June 30, 1920.^[13] In 1876, Guilford School opens on Guilford and Oakland Mills roads, and Guilford Colored School opens on land given by Williams, Clark and Rodgers near Guilford and Mission roads.^[14]

As the quarry started production again, it was known as one of the best paying jobs for African American labor who were not allowed to work in the nearby town of Savage. Many laborers from out of town would stay in a hotel for workers and get supplies from the company store.^[15] In 1901, the "Maryland Granite Company" purchased the quarry followed by spur line construction between Savage and Guilford in 1902. The steel pratt-truss bridge crossing the little Patuxent built that year remains onsite today. By 1905 Guilford Road was Macadmized with loads being pulled by six-horse teams. During this time, the quarry was now operated by the "Granite Company of Baltimore". A community with two churches and two dozen buildings was formed around the present Guilford and Oakland Mills road intersections.^[16] The First Baptist Church of Guilford was formed by Reverend Willis Carter in a tennant house and has grown to its fourth new building.^[17] By 1908 the large quarry was 100 feet deep producing monument stone and building stone. The smaller quarry to the southeast owned by the Guilford and Watersville Granite company operated from 1887 to 1893.^[18] The town joint mill ran as a cotton factory that operated from 1895 to 1916.^[19] By 1908 operations ceased at the Guilford Granite and Stone Company Quarry on the western river bank, and the Penny Quarry which was later filled in for an office complex.^[20] In February 1928 the B&O discontinued its Patuxent rail spur service downstream to Savage, Maryland.^[21] In 1954 the 11 room Guilford Colored School was built and remains in operation as Howard Countys oldest formerly segreated school.^[14]

From 1963 to 1966, The Rouse Company worked with family members of the County Commissioner to purchase 14,000 acres of Howard county farms using multiple shell companies. The properties around Guilford were bought by Howard Research and Development and 95-32LLC.^[16]

Present Guilford

In a 1900s accounting of the Guilford Factory site, author Joshua Dorsey Warfeild accounts of "enduring stone homes made of Granite found there, they will stand for centuries".^[5] A 1978 survey of the property performed prior to additional development stated that the buildings were in use until the 1950s, but were "demolished long ago" without explanation.^[16]

Modern Guilford road spans from Northeastern Columbia, through Savage and Annapolis Junction to Fort Meade. The road is bisected by modern route 29, 32, I-95, and 295 leaving a mix of historical original road and newly allinged roads. The road crosses between the most heavily populated sections of the county reminding residents of a place that is still there, but claimed as part of Savage and marketed as Columbia. The towns of Simpsonville (Columbia), Waterloo (Jessup), Magnolia (Jessup), and Pierceland (Annapolis Junction) have been taken over by their larger counterparts as well.

Of the three large remaining farms that occupied Wincopian Neck, Overlook Farm and Fairlands remain well preserved, but the 124 acre Ponsettia producing Wincopia Farms was purchased for development after Gourley and Gourley LLC foreclosed on a $3 million high interest sustainment loan reselling the property for $41 million to build 220 homes on the site.^[22][23]

Education

The Guilford area currently is home to one public school, Guilford Elementary School on Oakland Mills Road in Columbia. Future plans call for a new elementary school and high school to be built on land adjacent to the Savage Stone Quarry in between Washington Boulevard and Mission Road.^[24]

See also

• Worthington's Quarters ^[25]
• Commodore Joshua Barney House
• Kings Contrivance, Columbia, Maryland
• Moundland
• Cattail Creek Quarry

References

Municipalities and communities of Howard County, Maryland, United States
County seat: Ellicott City
CDPs	Columbia Elkridge Ellicott City Fulton Highland Ilchester Jessup‡ Mount Airy‡ North Laurel Savage Scaggsville
Villages	Columbia Town Center Dorsey's Search East Columbia Harper's Choice Hickory Ridge Kings Contrivance Long Reach Oakland Mills Owen Brown River Hill Wilde Lake
Unincorporated communities	Annapolis Junction‡ Alberton Alpha Atholton Benson Botterill Centre Village Clarkson Clarksville Cooksville Daisy Daniels Dayton Dorsey‡ Dorseyville Elioak Elysville Florence Gary Glenelg Glenwood Gordon Guilford Hilton Hanover‡ Henryton Heights High Ridge Hopewell Inwood Isaacsville Ivory Jonestown Linwood Lisbon Maple Lawn Marriottsville‡ Paternal Gift Farm Pfeiffers Corner Poplar Springs Simpsonville Turf Valley Waterloo West Friendship Woodbine‡ Woodstock‡
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Coordinates: 39°10′11″N 76°49′51″W / 39.16972°N 76.83083°W / 39.16972; -76.83083