What's in a Name?  Savage

No, Savage was not named after Indigenous Peoples or because the people there were mean. I have gotten such questions from folks when they hear the name Savage and I assure them that it is just an everyday, average and normal name. 

Savage, Maryland is an unincorporated town in Howard County amidst the planned and community of Columbia, Maryland. It derives its name is from John Savage, the Philadelphia investor, who loaned money to the Williams brothers to invest in their mills that became known as the Savage Manufacturing Company in 1822 (Filby 1965). The town was bounded geographically by the Little Patuxent River on the west and south, Pickett’s Branch on much of the North, and Route 1 (the old Washington Turnpike) on the east (Filby 1965). Pickett’s Branch was an informal name used as it is originally named Stony Run according to deeds from the early 1700s to late 1800s and informally goes by other names today.

Please see our page on History Notes about Savage Mill for lots more information on the settlement and origins of Savage.