A Brief History of Randallstown
by Monty Phair
Colonial Beginning
![[ Mount Olive Church ]](hist_ra_olive.gif) Christopher Randall, the first of his line in the province of Maryland,
settled in Anne Arundel County in the year 1679. There he purchased three tracts of land
totaling nearly 1,000 acres, and named them Randall's Fancy, Randall's Purchase, and
Randall's Range. Another original land-grant name from that time, Soldier's Delight, still
exists in Northwest Baltimore County. Christopher died in 1684, leaving behind his wife
Johanna, and his sons Christopher Randall Jr. and Thomas Randall. The family later moved
to Northwest Baltimore County (ca. 1719), where the area known as Randallstown preserves
their name. According to the 1877 Atlas of Baltimore County, Randallstown was situated
seven miles from Baltimore City. Christopher and Thomas opened a tavern on a dirt toll
road, which would eventually become Liberty Pike.
The Old Court Road was originally an old Indian trail, then used by rangers from Fort
Garrison to keep Susquehannock and Shawnee Indian incursions in check. These two tribes of
Indians were occasionally hostile to white settlers, prompting the construction of Fort
Frederick in the 1750's to protect settlers along the Cumberland Road. Fort Garrison was
built in 1695, and is still standing, though surrounded by a housing development. It is a
small stone blockhouse, but easily defensible against arrows, spears and axes. The Old
Court Road was later used as the road to the county court at Joppatown, the county seat of
Baltimore County from 1712 to 1768 and the rival of Baltimore City. Because of the heavily
wooded nature of the surrounding land, the area became known as Garrison Forest.
Fort Garrison was located off the dirt Conewago Road, which ran from Baltimore to
Hanover, Pennsylvania. This was another Indian trail, which was cut into a wagon road in
1737. The Conewago trail eventually became the Reisterstown Road.
Rolling Road, the oldest road still in use in the Randallstown area, was used by area
planters to roll their hogsheads of tobacco and dry goods to market, and to barges on the
local waterways for shipping to Baltimore harbor, or to the C & O Canal.
Harrisonville was a town in Baltimore County 12 miles from Baltimore City on the
Liberty Turnpike, and 15 miles from Towsontown. The town dates from about 1794.
Revolutionary War
Christopher Randall Jr. was one of the Colonial Justices of the Baltimore County Court
in the year 1723. The family continued to be actively involved in local politics through
the next half-century, all the way up to the Revolutionary period.
William Randall joined the Baltimore County Committee of Observation in 1775. The
purpose of the committee was to maintain order and prevent social unrest in light of the
blockade of British goods. The blockade caused a severe inflation of prices in the
Baltimore area, and many businesses went into debt. In addition, a percentage of the sale
price of all staple products went to the poor people of Boston, who were suffering under
the Intolerable Acts. Merchants, professionals and other prominent citizens patrolled the
streets of Baltimore and environs to prevent theft, robbery, looting and arson of
property. But by August of 1775, prominent citizens, including Charles Ridgely, William
Randall, Ezekiel Towson and Stephen Cromwell, quit the committee. It is not certain
whether their political views were too conservative for the Baltimore rebels, or too
radical for conservative Governor Eden.
By 1776 the entire population of Baltimore City and county was only 12,000.
The Federal Period
The area's largest structure of the time, the Odell gristmill, was built between 1790
and 1795. This three-story stone-and-wood structure was built on Powell's Run Road and
Liberty Pike. Though tobacco was the chief Maryland crop of that era, local farmers grew
mainly corn, wheat, buckwheat, rye and oats, which provided plenty of business for the
mill.
The New Tavern was built by Robert Ward in 1802, which served traffic from the west.
The tavern was 11 miles from Baltimore City Hall. The road was widened to accommodate
traffic between Baltimore City and the Ohio country, and was first named Liberty Road at
this time. Farmers from Carroll County used the road to bring their produce through the
Randallstown tollgate to the city markets. It was reported that the condition of the road
was so bad that it was an impassable muddy morass for half the year.
The Ward family were devout Methodists, and they held church services in the tavern
from 1802 until 1845, when they moved to a new church on the Old Court Road.
In the years 1812-1814, all of the male residents, ages 16-45, were levied into the
militia service, mandated by state law, in order to combat the British forces in the
Chesapeake Bay, about to attack Baltimore. Monthly militia drill was mandatory. Some of
these men served at Fort McHenry, and some on the field at the Battle of North Point.
There were eight members of the Randall family who took up arms during the Battle of
Baltimore. Best known was Major Beal Randall Jr., of Nace's Regiment, in Stansbury's 11th
Brigade. He led a rifle battalion to distinction during the Battle of North Point. His
captain of Company C was brother John T. Randall.
John C. Randall was a private in Company B of the 36th Regiment, and Nicholas Randall
was a private in Company D of the 41st Regiment. There was another William Randall in the
Baltimore Volunteers at the same time.
Private Aquia Randall was killed during the battle, and his name appears on the War of
1812 monument on Calvert Street in Baltimore City.
Granite
![[ Fort Garrison ]](hist_ra_garrison.gif) Granite was a village of 200 by 1881, but its roots go back to 1815 when Mount
Paran Church opened for the stone cutters and masons who worked the quarries there. This
was united with the Granite Presbyterian Church in 1848, with the Reverend T.B. Spottswood
as the first pastor. The region was known for its first-class quality building stone,
which was used for many of the buildings in Washington, D.C. This stone was used in the
building of all of Randallstown's older structures.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in Granite when its cornerstone was laid on
June 7, 1878.
Mount Olive Methodist Church
The Baltimore Circuit of Methodist Church was already in existence before the
foundation of the Mount Olive Methodist Episcopal Church. The closest churches were
Euler's Chapel, at Milford Road and Sudbrook Lane, and the Marcella Church, on Old Court
Road west of Liberty Road.
In 1858 construction began on the Mount Olive Methodist Church at the intersection of
Old Court and Liberty Road. The earliest marked tombstone in that churchyard dates back to
1784, long before there was a church at that site. The first church would have been a
wooden meetinghouse. According to a recent caretaker, there are a few blank tombstones
dating back to the late 1600's, when the land belonged to the Miller and Timanus families.
These unmarked stones are hand carved and are barely one foot tall. The old church
building presently at that location was commissioned in 1858, and the main floor of what
is now called the old sanctuary was dedicated on May 19, 1861.
As late as 1960 the custodian kept livestock on the church property. In that year he
had three head of cattle, a horse, two goats, 50-75 chickens, two ducks, and other small
animals.
By 1881 there was a German Lutheran church in Randallstown.
More on Liberty Pike
That part of Liberty Road between Mount Olive Lane (now Old Court Road) and
Marriottsville Road has been known as Randallstown for well over 200 years. It has been
very sparsely populated for over 100 of those years, consisting primarily of farmlands,
meadows and forests, with a few shops and inns along the road. By 1850 there were a dozen
or so houses huddled midway along this section of Liberty Road. There was little reason
for a traveler to stop here for anything other than to pay a toll at the tollgate at
Church Lane and Liberty Road, or to rest at an inn on the way to Westminster or Baltimore.
The stagecoach fare from the city to any point within 15 miles on a toll road in
colonial times was 3 1/2 shillings, and could take over an hour.
A horse railway began operation between Baltimore and Randallstown on February 3, 1874.
This was not a profitable enterprise, and the railway was later sold, and the rails taken
up.
Local Industry
![[ The Choate House ]](hist_ra_choate.gif) Another local business was started in 1850, the Choate Chrome Mine. The mine
was located on the east side of Deer Park Road southeast of the historical marker for
Soldier's Delight State Park. The barrens of Soldier's Delight were filled with surface
and pit deposits of the rare mineral chromite. The processing of this mineral became a
major local industry, and was unique to the entire region. These mines were finally
absorbed into Allied Chemical Company. In recent times, foreign sources of chromite have
replaced the local ones. One can still see evidence of the chromite in the orange-tinted
boulders near Soldier's Delight.
The Choate family moved to the area from Limestone Valley in 1853. Their three-story
house had been built in 1804, after Liberty Road had been made a direct route to
Baltimore. The Choate House was originally built as an inn or tavern. Its walls are 18
inches of solid stone and 8 inches more of cement.
By the mid-1850's the Gwynn's Falls was one of the most intensely used water sources in
the state of Maryland. There were no less than 20 mills, furnaces and other industries
using the waterway. Most of these had vanished by 1903.
The Civil War
James Ryder Randall was incensed over the circumstances of the Baltimore Riot of April
19, 1861. On that date, the 6th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment answered Abraham Lincoln's
call for volunteers to put down the secessionist uprising in the Southern states, and to
defend the capital, Washington, D.C. Most of the troops passed through the heart of
Baltimore without incident, but the last two sections of the regiment were blocked,
harassed and attacked by pro-Confederate sympathizers in the city of Baltimore. Three
soldiers were killed, and many civilians and soldiers were wounded. These were some of the
very first casualties of the American Civil War, and demonstrated the divided loyalties of
Baltimoreans.
One of Randall's best friends, Francis X. Ward, another native of Randallstown, was one
of the civilians mortally wounded at the hands of the 6th Massachusetts. Randall could not
sleep, and so began to write lines of passionate verse by candlelight. The resulting poem
was entitled "Maryland, My Maryland", and was later put to the music of an old
German folk melody of 1799, "O Tannenbaum", by Hetty and Jennie Cary of
Baltimore. This became the Maryland state song.
Liberty Road was used extensively by the Union Army during the Gettysburg Campaign of
June-July 1863. It was one of the routes from Baltimore to Eldersburg, Westminster, Union
Mills and Taneytown; which were major stopping points on the way to Gettysburg. The
Campfield Road got its name from from a temporary army headquarters made on an estate near
Liberty Road.
Postwar Developments
Until the early part of this century, Liberty Road was paved with cobblestone and was
full of pits, ruts and potholes which were eventually repaired by the various turnpike
companies which charged tolls for anyone using it. This was some improvement over the
earlier dirt wagon track, but it was reported in the local papers that the Liberty Pike
was still impassable about half the year, especially during the spring thaw. The Western
Maryland Railroad was just beginning to make a rail connection between Baltimore and
Westminster in the 1860's but, as Randallstown was not located directly between those two
places, it was never made a stopping point.
In 1860, the Baltimore-Liberty Turnpike Company was formed, which built a new road from
Carroll County to Liberty Heights and Garrison Forest Road.
In 1869, Randallstown resident William Chapman Odell operated a stagecoach from North
Branch to Baltimore. On school days he transported his two daughters to the tollgate. From
there, young Jessie, age 8, and Alice, age 6, would have to walk a half-mile down the even
narrower McDonogh Lane to the one-room schoolhouse taught by Robert Breckinridge Chapman,
their father's cousin. This was the first school in Randallstown.
The McDonogh School was first opened on November 21, 1873, with 21 pupils under W.
Allen, principal. The school flourished and, today, there are over 1,200 students
attending.
A Diverse Community
![[ Old Lodge ]](hist_ra_townhall.gif)
By 1870 there were two one-room schools for African-Americans in the area. One school was
located in Randallstown, with Henry W. Hewlett listed as teacher. The other school was in
Granite, taught by Addison L. Minor. These schools served the children of families
employed in the chromite and granite mines, and foundries and mills in the area.
The first Catholic masses were served by Jesuit seminarians from Woodstock, and
services were held at the New Tavern in 1876 for the employees of the Choate chrome mines.
These parishioners later attended the Holy Family Church on Liberty Road, established
later that year as a mission church to Northwest Baltimore. The Catholic community
continued to grow, and the new Holy Family Church was opened on Christmas Eve, 1960.
The 1877 Baltimore County Atlas relates the following information regarding the Second
District of Baltimore County:
"The Second District is situated in the western part of the county, adjoining
Howard and Carroll Counties, and is bounded on the south by the First District, on the
east by the Third District, and the north by the Fourth District.
"The Western Maryland Railroad runs along its eastern border, and the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad runs along its western side. The Liberty Turnpike runs through the
centre of the District from east to west for a distance of 9 1/2 miles. The surface is
rolling and the soil fertile; large and well-cultivated farms are numerous. Great
quantities of granite are obtained from the southern part. Extensive chrome mines are
worked in the western part. Churches and schools are numerous and well conducted.
"Water-power is abundant and on the Patapsco [and Gwynn's] Falls.
"The McDonough Institute and Woodstock College are located in the District.
Randallstown, Harrisonville, North Branch, Rockdale and Granite are growing places. This
is one of the most flourishing and rapidly growing places in the county."
By 1880 Randallstown was a thriving community, numbering 150 souls. The population of
the Second District of Baltimore County totaled 3,127 people. This village then boasted
two physicians, three blacksmiths, three storekeepers, and the Randall brothers' tavern.
At that time a popular fraternal club, the Knights of Pythias, built a lodge directly in
the center of the village. It was a tall three-storied structure, and the largest building
on the pike. The Knights were similar to the Odd Fellows and Masonic lodges. On the ground
floor were two classrooms, an auditorium and stage on the second, and the third floor was
reserved for the Knights' meetings. The lodge was later shared with a trade organization,
the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. A Building Association was soon created and
met on the second floor of the lode every two weeks. The Hall, as it was popularly called,
became the hub of community activities.
The Hall was still in full use in 1905. In order to get there from Baltimore, one took
the streetcar from the city and got off at the Confederate Old Soldiers Home in
Pikesville. There the traveler would be met by some relative or friend with a horse and
buggy, or would walk the remaining five miles. In those days, that was not considered much
of a walk.
From Liberty Pike to Liberty Road
Once the road was made reasonably passable for cars and other traffic, the development
of Randallstown began. Foundations and walls of community buildings, bowling alleys,
additional shops, a post office, bank, and another large hall were begun. Sudman's
blacksmith shop became Sam Schmidt's Ford dealership.
![[ Brill Company Trolley ]](hist_ra_trolley.gif) Trolley cars were quick to follow the automobile traffic. The United Railway
and Electric Company of Baltimore provided a temporary bus service, but the residents
wanted something more permanent. In the 1920's came a hybrid type of trolley which
required overhead electric wires, but no track. These unusual trolleys, made by the Brill
Company, ran on standard rubber tires, just like cars and trucks. This was thought to be a
cheaper way of running a trolley into the sticks without investing a lot of money in
rebuilding the roadbed and laying track. These "trackless trolleys" ran between
Gwynn Oak junction and Randallstown on the Liberty Road beginning December 18, 1922. This
single innovation helped to spark the growth of suburbs in Randallstown. The trip of 6.3
miles was covered in only 25 minutes. The fare from Randallstown to Richland was only
seven cents, but to continue on to Gwynn Oak Junction, passengers had to pay an additional
seven cents.
The trackless trolleys had other problems. Liberty Road was so bumpy that the carriages
were constantly damaged, and the cost of repairing them was almost as great as if the
money had been spent on laying tracks. These cars were retired after only 10 years in
1932, to be replaced by passenger buses.
Migration to the Suburbs
By the 1890's there was a large German-Jewish population in Northwest Baltimore. They
were soon joined by recently emigrated Russian Jews and the Orthodox Jewish community of
Eastern Baltimore. The richer Reform synagogues migrated out of the city to Forest Park
and Pimlico. In the 1920's there was another migration, with the wealthier folks moving
farther out toward Fallstaff and Pikesville. This migration continued unabated, and goes
on today, pushing toward Owings Mills and beyond. The first synagogue was Liberty Road
Reform Temple, later changed to Temple Emanuel, at Liberty Heights and Gwynn Oak avenues,
which was organized in 1955. A second congregation, (Conservative) Beth Israel, was
founded in 1956 at 9500 Liberty Road on 10 acres of land. The first Orthodox community
centered around Moses Montefiore Emunath Israel at 3605 Coronado Road in 1957-62.
The Randallstown Library was opened by the Board of Library Trustees and Director
Charles Robinson in 1967. The local inhabitants were overjoyed to have a large, new
facility housing thousands of books and other materials. The previous community library
had been a small trailer with very little room for books and staff and no space for a rest
room. Staff were obliged to use a local gas station for that function.
The population of Randallstown increased to 33, 683 by 1970.
Between 1975 and 1980 home prices in the area jumped from an average of $30,000 to more
than $65,000. Suburban single-family homes in Randallstown became very desirable to people
who had lived in city townhouses all their lives.
At the time of this writing, the first modern African-American migration
to Randallstown seems to have begun in the 1970's, with several families
settling in Kings Park and Briarhurst in the vicinity of Marriottsville
Road.
Another wave of Russian-Jewish immigration began in 1975. The wave grew to a giant
surge during the Reagan years, as this population grew from hundreds to thousands. Jewish
Family Services and Vocational Services actively assisted this group, and the Randallstown
Library developed a special Russian language collection to help in the transition to
acculturation and citizenship.
The community continues to grow in size and diversity. Though there are larger groups
of African-American, Jewish, Russian, and old established families here, there are also
smaller groups of Nigerian, Korean, Chinese, Caribbean and other ethnic minorities making
their homes in Randallstown. The community is multi-cultural in the fullest sense of the
word; and all of the local schools, businesses and organizations reflect this fascinating
and dynamic diversity.
Sources
- Atlas of Baltimore County Maryland, 1877. Reproduced from originals. Archives and
Museum Section, Central Printing Services: Baltimore County. 1991.
- Baltimore: Industrial Gateway on the Chesapeake. Society for Industrial
Archaeology: Baltimore Museum of Industry, 1995.
- Brooks, Neal A. and Rockel, Eric G. A History of Baltimore County. Published by
the Friends of the Towson Library: Towson, Maryland. 1979.
- Calcott, George H. Maryland & America, 1940-1980. Johns Hopkins University
Press: Baltimore, 1985.
- Farrell, Michael R. Who Made Our Trolleys Go! The Story of Rail Transit in Baltimore.
National Railway Historical Society: Baltimore, 1973.
- Frank, Beryl. "History Hunting" columnist for the Community Times of Northwest
Baltimore, from 1970 to 1987. Numerous articles.
- Kenny, Hamill. The Placenames of Maryland. Their Origin and Meaning. Museum and
Library of the Maryland Historical Society: Baltimore, 1984.
- Phillips, Jesse Choate. "Recollections of Randallstown". History Trails.
Baltimore County Historical Society: Cockeysville. Vol. 13, No. 2. Winter 1978-79.
- Pruce, Earl. Synagogues, Temples and Congregations of Maryland, 1830-1990.
Baltimore: Jewish Historical Society of Maryland. 1993.
- Richardson, Hester Dorsey. Sidelights of Maryland History, with Sketches of Early
Maryland Families. (Facsimile reprint of the 1913 edition). Tidewater Publishers:
Cambridge, Maryland. 1967.
- Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Baltimore City and County Maryland. Louis H.
Everts; Philadelphia. 1881.
- Talbert, Bart Rhett. Maryland, The South's First Casualty. Rockbridge Publishing
Company: Berryville, Virginia. 1995.
- Wright, F. Edward. Maryland Militia War of 1812. Vol. 2 Baltimore. Silver Spring,
Maryland: Family Line; 1979.
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