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Present day Irvington and the surrounding area were originally called "the Hunting Ridge" by the European immigrants. In the last quarter of the 17th century, the Lord Proprietor made numerous land grants on "the Hunting Ridge." Land records indicate that the first settler of the area was a Quaker from Anne Arundel County -Thomas Coale-whose 450 acres were surveyed on August 17, 1673. His land was called "Maiden's Choice" and occupied the present-day site of Loudon Park Cemetery.
On November 12, 1694, 617 acres called Atholl were surveyed for James Murray. Atholl was to become Irvington's eastern boundary. On March 15, 1695, 400 acres called "Morning Choice" were laid off for John Scutt in the north. Scutt added 100 acres in 1699. "Buck Ridge" was granted in the south to Christopher Gardiner on February 10, 1720. During the early 18th century, these farms were subdivided and the population of the area began to grow.
Modern-day Irvington actually began with "the road." "The road" led from Baltimore to Frederick Town, built sometime before 1765. It was originally a Native American trail. Trappers were the next to use it, as they brought their packhorses laden with pelts and salt to the markets in Baltimore Town. Log cabins occupied by "wheelbarrow men" (convicts who built and maintained roads under the eye of armed overseers) were set up several miles apart along "the road." Today that trail is Frederick Avenue.
In 1774, "the road" was considerably improved by the Ellicott brothers, from Ellicott City to Baltimore. Traffic on the toll road grew rapidly. Inns and other stopping places that furnished food, drink, and a night's lodging were built along the road to accommodate the travelers. It was a common sight to see stage coaches and colorful Conestoga wagons traveling through the unspoiled wilderness and farmland which would become Irvington.
One of colonial Maryland's best known hostelries on "the road" was the Fairview Inn, sometimes called the Three Mile House. The Fairview Inn was the stop for farmers' businessmen, pioneers and anyone traveling from Baltimore to the Alleghany Mountains or beyond. And it was the last stop fro people traveling to Baltimore. Built in 1801, it remained open through the War of 1812. It served various owners until 1917 as an inn, jail, slave quarters, slave prison, a dwelling and a tavern for farmers. The site of the Fairview Inn is still marked by a weatherbeaten, worn granite stone which says, "3M to B," (three miles to Baltimore).
The Frederick Turnpike opened land for settlement. The log cabins of "wheelbarrow men" and the huge farms of the original grants gave way to more estates along the road. Some of them were the Lusby Estate, known as The Seven Gates for its seven entrances from all angles (now the site of Mt. St. Joseph's High School),Loudon now Loudon Park Cemetery), and the estate of Dr. Augustus Jacob Schwartz.
As the population in the area began to grow, institutions to serve the people soon followed. In 1853, the Loudon Park Cemetery Company was incorporated on the site of Maiden's Choice. In 1861, the government bought a plot of land in the cemetery for the burial of 2300 Union and 275 Confederate soldiers. A sergeant was stationed to live in a cottage near the plot and to stand guard over the war dead.
The Church of the Most Holy Passion on Frederick Road was consecrated in April of 1867. In July of 1867, the cornerstone of St. Joseph's Passionist was laid. The clergy ministered to St. Mary's Industrial School and St. Agnes Church in Catonsville. To the present day, the Passionist priests remain.
On Thanksgiving Day1873, Mount Saint Joseph's College opened a boarding school and college. The location is described in an 1877 advertisement : "(The) ...locality is remarkably healthy and its surroundings are most lovely and picturesque." "St. Joe" remains one of the finest high schools in the state.
The success of these and other fine institutions was in part insured by the area's growing population and its improving transportation system.
In 1874, C. Irving Ditty, an attorney and Collector of the Port of Baltimore, who had married the granddaughter of Herr Schwartze, bought a large section of land that would later take his name. Mr Ditty laid out there 70 foot wide streets running "...from the pike to the old road..."and named them Augusta (after his wife or daughter), Collins and Loudon Avenues. Mr. Ditty next subdivided the land into lots. He commissioned A.S. Potter, a contractor, to build four houses along the avenue furthest west. Two of these four houses and the Schwartze mansion built in 1854 stand today.
In years that followed, Irvington, as it came to be called, grew into a residential community. Many wealthy Baltimore City merchants and professionals had their country residences in the "...salubrious and easily accessible neighborhood" (an 1877 description). Substantial homes were built along the tree shaded avenues to create an atmosphere that to this day suggests the peace and quiet of a rural community.
As the resident population grew around "the road," so did a business community. In 1898, Dr. Joseph Brown opened a pharmacy at the site which to this day remains the Irvington Pharmacy. In 1905, the Irvington Savings and Loan Association was founded. Hundreds of store owners have come, gone or remained since the turn of the century.
In 1888, a section of Irvington first became part of Baltimore City, when the City's western boundary was extended to 10 feet west of Augusta Avenue. It was not until the Annexation of 1918 that all of Irvington finally became a part of Baltimore. Meanwhile the identity of Irvington as a community continued to grow.
Irvington was a community of large Victorian homes built to house the extended families of their day. Members of families which outgrew their homes settled in the newer rowhomes on other Irvington Streets. The business community was operated primarily by resident families. Irvington had become a family oriented neighborhood.
The pike was paved, the automobile began to compete with the No. 8 trolley line. The extended family began to break down and family members began to move to new areas instead of just to new streets. The large homes in many cases became too large. Businesses were run by the same families, but they were no longer tied to the community. The 20th century phenomenon of the car hit Irvington: again, "the Road" was an important factor.
During World War II, shipbuilders used to room in the large Victorian homes. After the war, students at Baltimore's professional schools found Irvington a conveniently located community. Through it all, Irvington never ceased to be a "neighborhood." Friendly people, well-kept homes, snowball fights in summer thanks to Wisnow's ice house), 4th of July celebrations and countless happy occasions prevailed.
In the 1960's , with the outmigration suffered by all old cities brought some decline to Irvington. Happily, it was a decline that was short lived. Today you will find a revival in Irvington. Her century old institutions still stand proud, her traditions of friendliness and her comfortable neighborhood feeling are deeply ingrained. Today, there is a home for anyone in Irvington. Bountiful open land, recreation, shopping, schools, churches, restaurants, doctors, housing (which ranges from century old manors to modern apartments), the Irvington Community Association-it's all there in Irvington. Thee almost solid ring of cemeteries and institutions surrounding the community is responsible for the curious seclusion that Irvington enjoys in a metropolis that has long since grown around it in all directions. Irvington is a community with a proud past. Yet it never loses sight of tomorrow.
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