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A−History
History · Edgemere

21% of Edgemere’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #32 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1944 on, and the census since 1960.

5on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

About Edgemere’s history

How historic is Edgemere?

A−

More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Edgemere’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Edgemere is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #32 of 261 in Maryland. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Edgemere’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194020.7% of homes (±5.8) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register5 listings, 5.5 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 81%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 88%

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 Edgemere’s 5.5 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Edgemere’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Edgemere, and 17 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Edgemere’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Sparrows Point, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sparrows Point
1888–1896
Fort Howard
1906–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bay Shore ParkBayshoreBaywood Mobile Home ParkBear Creek JunctionChesapeake TerraceDarintonFitzellFort HowardLincoln Mobile Home ParkLodge ForestLynch PointPenwood Mobile Home ParkPenwood ParkRamona BeachSparrows PointSwan PointWater View
Gone or out of use
Battery AugustinmilitaryBattery ClagettmilitaryBattery HarrismilitaryBattery HeartmilitaryBattery LazearmilitaryBattery NicholsonmilitaryBattery StrickermilitaryBattery TowsonmilitaryEdgemere Community ChapelchurchFort HowardmilitaryNew Hope Churchchurch

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

Help out

Start Edgemere’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

5 historic places in Edgemere

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Todd Farmhouse
Todd FarmhouseCraighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light StationCut-Off Channel Range Front Light StationCut-off Channel Range Rear Light StationFort Carroll
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Italianate1
Todd FarmhouseFederal
Craighill Channel Lower Range Rear Light StationStructure
Cut-Off Channel Range Front Light StationStructure
Cut-off Channel Range Rear Light StationStructure
Fort CarrollStructure

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story so far

Edgemere, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Edgemere yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Edgemere is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 8,669 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1899 as Edgemere being renamed from previous name "Fitzell". Meeting held at the Fitzell Farm which was situated where the old Rheem plant was located (later it became the record storage facility for Bethlehem Steel plant at Sparrows Point).

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 8,669 to 9,069 (+5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Edgemere, 1880 to 1944

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maryland - Baltimore County - Edgemere - ED 3-115…
  3. 1888Post officeThe Sparrows Point post office opens
  4. 1896Post officeThe Sparrows Point post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906Post officeThe Fort Howard post office opens
  7. 1939Born hereWild Bill Hagy is born here
  8. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Edgemere, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maryland - Baltimore County - Edgemere - ED 3-115, ED 3-116, ED 3-11718801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maryland - Ba…
1890s–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
Today17 recent
Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (4)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (4)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (3)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (3)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (21)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (21)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (20)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (20)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (2)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (2)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (19)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (19)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (18)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (18)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (17)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (17)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (16)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (16)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (15)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (15)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (14)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (14)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (13)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (13)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (12)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (12)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (11)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (11)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (10)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (10)Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (1)2013Edgemere, MD 21219, USA - panoramio (1)MDMap-doton-Edgemere2004MDMap-doton-Edgemere
On the map

Edgemere on the map, 1944 to 1974

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

Edgemere on the 1944 USGS mapEdgemere on the 1969 USGS mapEdgemere on the 1974 USGS map1944Sparrows Point sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maryland - Baltimore County - Edgemere - ED 3-115, ED 3-116, ED 3-117
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maryland - Baltimore County - Edgemere - ED 3-115, ED 3-116, ED 3-117, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Edgemere, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0001960198020002020Peak: 11,775

Between 8,669 and 11,775 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dundalk4 historic placesB+

Questions about Edgemere’s history

How does Edgemere rank for history?

Edgemere is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #32 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 Edgemere?

5 listings: 1 building, among them the Todd Farmhouse (listed 1973, the first), and 4 structures.

How old are the homes in Edgemere?

21% of Edgemere’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1964.

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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) 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.