Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Arnold

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C−History
History · Arnold

Arnold’s post office opened in 1880

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #191 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Arnold was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1894 on.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Arnold began

When was Arnold founded?

1880

The Arnold post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Oakland Mills (1821), Arnold's Store (1862) and Revell (1902), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 24,064146 years

How historic is Arnold?

C−

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Arnold post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Arnold’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Arnold is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #191 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Arnold’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.4% of homes (±0.8) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MD town 0.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 27%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Arnold’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Arnold’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Arnold, and 79 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Arnold are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18945 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1970. Watch Arnold change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Arnold’s post office has been open since 1880. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Oakland Mills
1821–1841
Arnold's Store
1862–1880
Arnold
1880–today
Revell
1902–1917
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AsberryAshcroftBancroftBay HillsBayberryBellerive VillageBelleview EstatesBelvedere HeightsBirchwoodBriar Cliff on the SevernBriar LeaBroadwater BeachCampus GreenCapetowneCapri EstatesCherrywoodCollege HillsCollege ManorCollege StationCresston ParkDivinity CoveDogwood Trailer ParkDorado HillsDorado Village
1cemetery inside Arnold
Arnold Churchyard

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Arnold’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Arnold’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Arnold on the map, 1894 to 1970

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Arnold. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Arnold on the 1894 USGS mapArnold on the 1907 USGS mapArnold on the 1949 USGS mapArnold on the 1956 USGS mapArnold on the 1970 USGS map1894Relay sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Arnold.

The story

How Arnold came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Arnold.

Read it all →

Native Americans are known to have resided in the region in pre-Columbian times based on artifacts found in the Ulmstead Point area dating back to the Archaic period (5000–1500 BC). Later tribes that have been in the area include the Algonquin tribes, among others. Arrowheads and other artifacts have been found in the Briarcliff area. However, when Captain John Smith arrived in the area in 1608, he reported no Natives.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Arnold, 1821 to 1979

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1821Post officeThe Oakland Mills post office opens
  3. 1841Post officeThe Oakland Mills post office closes
  4. 1862Post officeThe Arnold's Store post office opens
  5. 1880Post officeThe Arnold's Store post office closes
  6. 1880Post officeThe Arnold post office opens
  7. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1914Born hereJune Lazenby Green is born here
  10. 1942Born hereCarolyn Colvin is born here
  11. 1979Born hereBrooks Barnard is born here
By decade

Arnold, decade by decade

Today12 recent
2019-05-22 13 18 58 View west along U.S. Route 50 and south along U.S. Route 301 (Blue Star Memorial Highway) at Exit 2…20192019-05-22 13 18 58 View west along U.S. Route 50 and…2019-05-22 13 14 38 View west along U.S. Route 50 and south along U.S. Route 301 (Blue Star Memorial Highway) at the ex…20192019-05-22 13 14 38 View west along U.S. Route 50 and…2019-05-22 13 10 48 View west along U.S. Route 50 and south along U.S. Route 301 (Blue Star Memorial Highway) at Exit 2…20192019-05-22 13 10 48 View west along U.S. Route 50 and…2019-05-22 12 35 19 View east along U.S. Route 50 and north along U.S. Route 301 (Blue Star Memorial Highway) at Exit 2…20192019-05-22 12 35 19 View east along U.S. Route 50 and…2019-05-22 12 31 03 View east along U.S. Route 50 and north along U.S. Route 301 and Maryland State Route 2 (John Hanso…20192019-05-22 12 31 03 View east along U.S. Route 50 and…US50 East US301 North - Exit 27 - MD450 South MD2 North2018US50 East US301 North - Exit 27 - MD450 South MD2 Nor…2016-08-17 07 54 41 View north along Maryland State Route 648 (Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard) just north of Maryland St…20162016-08-17 07 54 41 View north along Maryland State R…2016-08-17 07 08 41 View north along Maryland State Route 648 (Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard) just north of U.S. Route …20162016-08-17 07 08 41 View north along Maryland State R…2016-08-17 07 05 16 View north along Maryland State Route 2 (Governor Ritchie Highway) between U.S. Route 50-U.S. Route…20162016-08-17 07 05 16 View north along Maryland State R…US Route 301 - Maryland2012US Route 301 - MarylandUS Route 301 - Maryland2012US Route 301 - MarylandMDMap-doton-Arnold2004MDMap-doton-Arnold
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Arnold

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Carolyn ColvinCivil servant from the United States · b. 1942
B
Brooks BarnardAmerican football player · b. 1979
J
June Lazenby GreenUnited States federal judge · b. 1914
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Severna Park1 historic placeC−Cape St. ClaireIts storyDParole1 historic placeC−Lake ShoreIts storyC−

Questions about Arnold’s history

What year was Arnold founded?

The Arnold post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Arnold rank for history?

Arnold is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #191 of 261 in Maryland. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Arnold?

2% of Arnold’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.