Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Colmar Manor

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 · Colmar Manor

Colmar Manor dates to 1927, and 61% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1930.

1927founded
0on the National Register
61%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Colmar Manor’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Colmar Manor began

When was Colmar Manor founded?

1927

Colmar Manor dates its founding to 1927 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 1,225 in 19302020 census: 1,58899 years

How historic is Colmar Manor?

C+

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Colmar Manor’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colmar Manor is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Colmar Manor’s overall grade.
Founding era1927, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194061.3% of homes (±14.0) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%A+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 40%
NewerOlder

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 Colmar Manor’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 B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±14.0 points). Two sources give 1927.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Colmar Manor’s past

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

On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1979. Watch Colmar Manor change.Old housesHalf of Colmar Manor’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · On the map

Colmar Manor on the map, 1900 to 1979

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

Colmar Manor on the 1900 USGS mapColmar Manor on the 1934 USGS mapColmar Manor on the 1979 USGS map1900Washington 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 Colmar Manor.

The story

How Colmar Manor came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Colmar Manor.

Read it all →

The town is home to Dueling Creek, formerly in Bladensburg, Maryland, a small waterway that because of its secluded location was a popular site for dueling. Duels were banned in neighboring Washington, D.C., but legal in Maryland, and Dueling Creek was the site for more than 50 duels between 1808 and 1868. The most famous duel fought on the site was on March 22, 1820, between Stephen Decatur and James Barron. Decatur was mortally wounded in the exchange.

Chapters19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Colmar Manor, 1900 to 1941

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1927
    FoundingColmar Manor is established
  4. 1941In the archiveSalvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing among the piles of reclaimable materials…
By decade

Colmar Manor, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s7 items
Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing among the piles of reclaimable materials at the Colmar Manor, Maryland…1941Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing amon…Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing among the piles of reclaimable materials at the Colmar Manor, Maryland…1941Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing amon…Hundreds of junked cars were denied to the war effort by the Lennox Motor Company in Maryland. The owner refused to... …1942Hundreds of junked cars were denied to the war effort…Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyards. Tons of scrap at the auto graveyard of the Lenox Motor Company1942Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyards. Tons of scra…Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyards. Tons of scrap at the auto graveyard of the Lenox Motor Company1942Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyards. Tons of scra…Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. U.S. marshals, accompanied by county police, raid the Colmar Manor, Maryland au…1942Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. U.S. marshals…Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyards. Hundreds of junked cars, containing tons of metal and rubber scrap were denied…1942Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyards. Hundreds of …
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Colmar Manor Community Center and Town Hall2025Colmar Manor Community Center and Town HallColmar Manor Bible Church2025Colmar Manor Bible ChurchColmar Manor, Maryland2023Colmar Manor, MarylandBladensburg Road Bridge deck 20162016Bladensburg Road Bridge deck 2016Bladensburg Road Bridge 20162016Bladensburg Road Bridge 2016
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.

Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing among the piles of reclaimable materials at the Colmar Manor, Maryland…
Retake this viewSalvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing among the piles of reclaimable materials at the Colmar Manor, Maryland…, 1941

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Colmar Manor’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Colmar Manor, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80019401960198020002020Peak: 1,772

Between 1,225 and 1,772 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colmar Manor’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Colmar Manor

Nobody well known was born in Colmar Manor itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Al GoreVice President of the United States from 1993 t… · b. 1948
Samuel L. JacksonAmerican actor · b. 1948
Jennifer DoudnaAmerican biochemist · b. 1964
Frances TiafoeAmerican tennis player · b. 1998
Richard R. ArnoldAmerican educator and astronaut · b. 1963
William WirtAmerican author and statesman and United States… · b. 1772
Help out

Finish Colmar Manor’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSalvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard.…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cottage CityIts storyC

Questions about Colmar Manor’s history

What year was Colmar Manor founded?

In 1927, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1930 counted 1,225 people here.

How does Colmar Manor rank for history?

Colmar Manor is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns. 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 Colmar Manor?

61% of Colmar Manor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.0 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1938.

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 (6), the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.