Some of Howard County's history is hidden, concealed within the development that has transformed the county from rural farmland and forest into thriving suburbia. Some of the county's history is gone, buildings disappearing due to disaster, demolition or the ravages of time.
A new book tries to bring much of that history together. Howard County, part of the "Images of America" series, offers a pictorial tour of the pivotal places, from its earliest towns, mills, schools and stores to its lost landmarks.
"We tried to get as much diversity as we could, to go beyond the names and faces that everybody knows," said Shelley Wygant of the Howard County Historical Society, which compiled the book and provided some of the photographs. "The concept of it was trying to go for the untold stories, so even people who grew up here would say, 'Wow, I didn't know that.' "
The book, released Aug. 22, is part of Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series, which use hundreds of photos to tell the story of a town, city or county.
Columbia and Ellicott City have already had entries in the series. The new book, Wygant said, is meant to be a comprehensive take on all corners of the county.
The project, planning for which began in the fall of 2009, took the historical society beyond its own archives and into private collections.
"We went literally to people's homes. We took a scanner, and we took photographs, sometimes off their walls," Wygant said. "Many of these photos have never been published before."
Glimpses of the past
In an ever-changing county, the photos and their captions give glimpses at what once was, including: a hotel and railroad station that once overlooked the Thomas Viaduct in Elkridge, a Gothic building that has been gone since the 1950s; a second bridge next to the restored Bollman Truss Railroad Bridge in Savage, used for carriages and cars; and, St. Charles College which stood in Ellicott City from 1831 until it was destroyed by a fire in 1911.
"Students and nuns had enough time to throw their belongings out the windows, but the priests lost everything," reads the caption for the St. Charles College photograph. "Virtually all of the college's manuscripts, paintings and the nearly 20,000 books in the two libraries were lost."
For Rebecca Reich, a Glenwood resident who volunteered on the project, some of the highlights came not from what she was contributing, but from what others offered.
"People were filling little tidbits in, photographs and stories," Reich said. "We got to talk to a lot of people that maybe would not have called on the historical society. It was a real learning opportunity."
Paging through the book reveals numerous fascinating notes.
On one page, a six-pack of National Bohemian beer rests under the hand of Edgar Barksdale, the first black tavern owner who later had "what was regarded as the best-stocked general grocery store along the Baltimore-Washington Boulevard."
Elsewhere, readers learn that Maryland had a baseball "Iron Man" long before Cal Ripken — Highland's Malcolm Disney, who, according to the book, began playing in 1905 at the age of 16 and only missed two games until he retired at the age of 61.
And the original Hickory Ridge was not a Columbia village, but rather a home northwest of Highland.
There are some shots of Columbia and Ellicott City. The planned city is represented through pictures of a 1967 art show, the creation of Lake Kittamaqundi and the first building at Howard Community College.
"The thing about historical photo books is the photos tell you what you should include," Wygant said. "It depends on what we could find, how good the photos were — and if we had a story to tell about them."
Howard County, $21.99, Arcadia Publishing. Available at local retailers, online bookstores, or through Arcadia Publishing at http://www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888) 313-2665.