Catonsville’s post office opened in 1831, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #19 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
15 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 1,133 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1960.
From Catonsville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Catonsville began
When was Catonsville founded?
1831
The Catonsville post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Oella (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 37,872 in 19602020 census: 44,701195 years
How historic is Catonsville?
A
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Catonsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Catonsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Catonsville is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #19 of 261 in Maryland. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Catonsville’s overall grade.
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 Catonsville’s 264 sits above most of its state (88% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 1,147 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 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 Catonsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area of present-day Catonsville was not inhabited by large numbers of Native Americans. The region served as a hunting ground or a means of transit, specifically for the Susquehannocks, who lived to the north. By the mid-17th century, any meaningful presence in this region, alongside the Chesapeake Bay, vanished—the 1652 Articles of Peace and Friendship, specifically, essentially ended Susquehannock life in Maryland. Thus, they disappeared decades before the first settlers encroached on the area.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1899Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maryland - Baltimore County - Catonsville - ED 3-2 - ED 3-24, 1880
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Catonsville’s page.
The Catonsville post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Catonsville rank for history?
Catonsville is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #19 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.
What is on the National Register in Catonsville?
15 listings: 7 buildings, 7 historic districts with 1,133 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 1,147 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Catonsville?
19% of Catonsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (15), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
![Visit of Cardnals [sic] Gibboins [i.e., Gibbons?] and Mercier to St. Charles College](https://images.townratings.com/story/40484/d50cfb6773ab11ca56df-s.jpg)
1919
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
1933
