Guilford Origins

The Guilford community in southeastern Howard County, Maryland, was established  in the very early 1700s along the banks of the Little Patuxent River, which in those times was referred to as Brown’s Branch or the North Branch.  Brown's Branch was named for Thomas Brown, an early settler known as the Patuxent Ranger.  Much of Howard County was known as Elk Ridge because of the settlement at Elk Ridge Landing.  

Between 1698-1727, most of what would become Howard County was actually in Baltimore County. (see when Howard County was Baltimore County).  Christ Episcopal Church was established in 1711 and is noted on the top of the map to the right.  It was completed in 1728 and rebuilt in 1811 and often called the "Old Brick Church".  Church records indicate that it was  known as the Old Elkridge Church before it was rebuilt. It was also known as the Christ Church of Guilford for many years.

Land patents in the Guilford area were issued in the early 1700s (see Early Guilford Land Records) and a grist mill was owned by Alexander Warfield dating back to at least 1744. Farming was a primary occupation into the 1950s.

The first mention of the term Guilford occurred in 1785 in reference to the Guilford Mills.   It is likely that the word Guilford was used to honor those Old Maryland Line soldiers that fought in the 1781 Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina just a few years earlier.  One of the owners of the mill at that time, Captain Richard Stringer, likely served at the Battle.

By 1834, a cotton mill was added to the grist and saw mill as well as granite quarries nearby and the area was now referred to as the Guilford Factory. The quarries, just a few hundred feet from the mill, opened yielding a very marketable and unique type of mineral known today as Guilford granite.  In 1860, Guilford was located centrally in the new Howard County's First District (see the snippet of the Martenet map to the right), and by 1873 the County's districts were realigned and the new Sixth District was named for Guilford.  In 1874 Guilford received its first post office.

In 1890 the mill burned down and the land was used to expand the quarry operations.  The Maryland Granite Company brought the Patuxent Branch Rail line from Savage Mill to Guilford in 1901 sparking a economic growth.

In 1903, hundreds of men of all backgrounds, nationalities, and races worked in the quarries and lived on local lands.  One influential black quarry worker who was also a preacher and probable foreman, Willis Carter, ensured that the black community of Guilford had housing, food, education, and religious worship.  Reverend Carter also secured land for the First Baptist Church of Guilford and became its founding pastor before his early death in 1906.  The Carter family is considered one of the founding families of Guilford and their service to the community continues to this day.  

The quarries were abandoned by when the Maryland Granite Company auctioned it equipment in 1917, as was the Guilford Post Office, and the Patuxent Branch Rail line officially closed in 1928.  Farming continued in Guilford until the new town of Columbia was developed in the 1960s and is now a bedroom community for the large employment centers of Fort Meade, Washington DC, and Baltimore.  

This brief history is just a summary of Guilford's long and storied history that is worth learning and contributing to. We will be expanding this as time allows.  Please see this Washington Post article from 2003 entitled "On the Trail of Guilford's History".

Also, please see the Historical Marker for the Town of Guilford on the Patuxent Branch Trail.