What's in a Name?Huntington 

Huntington was the second of the neighborhoods in the Kings Contrivance Village.1  Model homes were advertised and shown in 1979.2  The area of Huntington Park was originally  the site of a proposed elementary school and has been held in reserve for many years.  Huntington Park was owned by Howard Research and Development Corporation since 2000 until they sold/transferred it to the Board of Education of Howard County in 2019.3  Huntington Park is on the HCPSS Land Bank Properties as of May 2021 that could still be converted to a new school.4, 5

The Columbia Maryland Archives “Place Name” search reveals that “The neighborhood name is from Huntington Quarter, an original land grant patented to Henry Ridgely Sr. and Henry Ridgely Jr. in 1696 for 259 acres.” 6  The only problem with this claim is that the patent for Huntington Quarter is in Anne Arundel County.  It is much more plausible that another local original land grant to Henry Ridgely Sr. in 1686 called Ridgely’s Forrest,7  and located where the Huntington East neighborhood currently is, was the source of the name of Huntington.   In fact, the land certificate for Ridgely’s Forrest states that it was “lying on the east side of the North great branch of Patuxent River at Huntington”.  Ridgely’s Forrest, comprising 264 acres of lands, was re-patented by Henry Ridgely, Jr. along with other lands to form Harry’s Lott for 702 acres in 1734.8   This land formed parts of  Guilford and Savage between the Little Patuxent River and Stony Run just east of Guilford Road.

One interesting item of note is that the Huntington neighborhood was the planned location for a Marriott theme park in the 1970s.9, 10 

Sources

1 Rouse Company, Cigna and Howard Research and Development Corporation.  Hungtington. Columbia, Maryland.  Undated 6 page publication describing the new Kings Contrivance neighborhood of Huntington.  View at the Columbia Maryland Archives.

2 1979 May 13. New models to open in Columbia. The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), Sunday, Page 89 Printed on Sep 25, 2021.  

3 2021 September 25. Maryland State Department of Assessments & Taxation. Huntington Park. https://sdat.dat.maryland.gov/RealProperty/Pages/viewdetails.aspx?County=14&SearchType=ACCT&District=16&AccountNumber=155942. Accessed 9-25-2021

4 2021 May.  Howard County Public School System and Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning. Howard County Public School System Land Bank Overview. https://ehq-production-us-california.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/af3b7a6d675d69095e8fcbef831da8ff13286134/original/1622128052/fd7c4aa79de39f8bc54e3cac3f1568ac_HCPSS_Land_Bank_Map_2021.pdf  Accessed 9-25-2021

5 2020 June. Howard County Public School System Feasibility Study: An Annual Review of Long-Term Capital Planning and Attendance Area Adjustment Options. Prepared by Office of School Planning, Columbia, Maryland. https://www.hcpss.org/f/schoolplanning/2020/2020-feasibility-study.pdf Accessed 9-25-2021.

6 Columbia Maryland Archives. Huntington. https://www.columbiamdarchives.org/Presto/content/Detail.aspx?ctID=ZTBmYTQ1NmQtZWU1Yy00ZTdkLWJlNWEtOTlkZWZlM2M4YzUy&rID=MTE1MA==&qrs=RmFsc2U=&q=KGh1bnRpbmd0b24p&qcf=ZTBmYTQ1NmQtZWU1Yy00ZTdkLWJlNWEtOTlkZWZlM2M4YzUy&ph=VHJ1ZQ==&bckToL=VHJ1ZQ==&rrtc=VHJ1ZQ==  Accessed 9-25-2021 

7 1686 June 3. Land certificate for Ridgely’s Forrest, 264 acres, to Henry Ridgely. Liber C 3 Folio 338-339.  Patent granted 1696 in same document.  http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se23/000000/000039/pdf/mdsa_se23_39.pdf

8 1734 June 13. Land patent for Harry’s Lott, 702 acres, to Henry Ridgely. Liber EI 5 Folio 161 certificate and Liber EI 1 Folio 439 for patent. http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se23/000000/000059/pdf/mdsa_se23_59.pdf

9 1972 January 27. Marriott to build big park. The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), Thursday,  Pages 1 and 14. Downloaded from Newspapers.com Oct. 23, 2020.

10  1977 October 4. Marriott Park loses in Howard. The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), Tuesday,  Pages 29 and 32. Downloaded from Newspapers.com Oct. 23, 2020.