Havenwood

65 years ago in 1955 my parents were living in Towson, MD in apartments near Dulaney Valley Rd & Fairmont Ave. when they decided to purchase their first home and move “way out” to Lutherville, friends could not believe they were moving so far out! In 1955 there was no Beltway, Jones Falls Expressway or Light Rail. The “Streetcar Line” traveled down the middle of York Rd. from downtown Baltimore to Towson. York Rd became a 2 lane road beyond Towson with little or no commercial development north of Towson along York Rd. I was a small child at the time, and my first recollection was a visit to our new house under construction in Havenwood in early 1955. At the time the roads were not completed so we pulled off York Rd and parked on what was to become Ridgely Rd and walked through the woods to our new house that was being framed at that point. The house was finished and we moved in in December 1955. At the time the home was considered big and had all the latest features including a Master Bathroom! We had the split level model, 4 levels including the basement with a one car garage. Outside in 1955 Bramleigh Road ended just beyond our driveway at the property line, just above where Bramleigh Garth was created, with nothing but wooded area beyond. You could walk to Loch Raven reservoir crossing only an unpaved road (eventually Pot Spring Road) and a country road (Dulaney Valley Rd), but seeing no other structures at the time. In 1958 Bramleigh Rd was completed further (as well as Atherton Rd), connecting with the then under construction Charmuth Rd. Also at that time homes along the new part of Bramleigh were constructed. In approximately 1960 the area saw a major change with the construction of Ridgely Jr/Sr High School. It was a Jr/Sr High school for a few years until Dulaney Sr. High opened. Our feeder pattern at that time was Lutherville Elementary, Ridgley Jr High & Dulaney Sr High. In 1955, York road was a small two lane road, there was no traffic light at Ridgley Road at the time. Most shopping required a trip into Towson, although there were a few small shops in the “heart” of Timonium which was near York & Belfast Roads. Big changes happened in the late 50’s when YorkRidge Plaza was built. Anchored by an A&P Grocery store (Where Michaels is in 2020) with other main stores being SS Kresge, Read’s Drug Store & Hardware Fair. The Shell gas station was built on the N/W corner of York & Ridgely with a Cities Service gas station on the S/W corner. Behind Cities Service was built the Lutherville-Timonium Post Office (Advance Auto Parts in 2020) In the mid 1960’s A&P got competition when Giant Food opened in Ridgely Plaza behind the Post Office, the Giant Food space is a Doctor’s office in 2020. York Road was expanded to 4 lanes in the mid 60’s. The N/E Corner of York & Ridgely was finally developed in the mid 1970’s, originally with a Lincoln-Mercury car dealership where Walgreens and a small multi store building now stand in 2020, along with an L shaped plaza. The original cost of the home was $15,000 in 1955, and at that time the land was not included, they paid a small monthly ground rent. Eventually they were able to buy the land for $600 making the total $15,600. In the 1950's and 1960's Havenwood was crawling with young Baby Boomer children and was a great place to grow up!