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DHistory
History · Essex

Essex’s post office opened in 1922

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #213 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Essex was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1960.

1922first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Essex’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Essex began

When was Essex founded?

1922

The Essex post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Walters (1898), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 35,205 in 19602020 census: 40,505104 years

How historic is Essex?

D

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Essex’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Essex is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #213 of 261 in Maryland. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Essex’s overall grade.
Founding era1922, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19406.3% of homes (±1.4) · 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 12%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 18%

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 Essex’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 (±1.4 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 Essex’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 Essex, and 30 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.On the map since 18938 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1998. Watch Essex change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Essex had its own post office from 1922 to 1941. Another post office, Walters, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Walters
1898–1907
Essex
1922–1941
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Back River HighlandsCape May BeachCape May LandingCedar BeachCountry RidgeEastern TerraceEdgewaterEssexshireEssexshire GateFox Ridge ManorGrimesdaleHartland RunHartland VillageHopkins LandingHyde ParkJosenhansLen Mar CommunityMansfield WoodsMarine Oak VillageMars EstatesMiddleboroughMiddlesexPort Cherry Gardens FarmRiverwood Park
Gone or out of use
Baltimore County Health Centerbuilding

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

Help out

Start Essex’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Essex’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 map

Essex on the map, 1893 to 1998

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

Essex on the 1893 USGS mapEssex on the 1901 USGS mapEssex on the 1941 USGS mapEssex on the 1951 USGS mapEssex on the 1969 USGS mapEssex on the 1974 USGS mapEssex on the 1985 USGS mapEssex on the 1998 USGS map1893Gunpowder 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 Essex.

The story

How Essex came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Essex.

Read it all →

Essex is located on a peninsula bodied by the Middle River to the east and the Back River to the west. Essex was originally ten blocks, running from Mace Avenue to Marlyn Avenue. It began in 1909 by the Taylor Land Company for the residents in Baltimore who wanted a place outside the city limits to perhaps grow a garden or to pursue some other rural activity. Land was cheap, and sales were enhanced by a promotional pamphlet.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Essex, 1880 to 1980

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
  3. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1898Post officeThe Walters post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1907Post officeThe Walters post office closes
  7. 1922Post officeThe Essex post office opens
  8. 1941Post officeThe Essex post office closes
  9. 1947Born hereDennis F. Rasmussen is born here
  10. 1948Born hereMichael H. Weir, Jr. is born here
  11. 1953Born hereRic Metzgar is born here
  12. 1980Born hereRobin Grammer is born here
By decade

Essex, 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 County18801940 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
Today11 recent
CCBC, Essex, Maryland 072017CCBC, Essex, Maryland 07Building Xx12017Building Xx1Building 222017Building 222016-07-27 12 50 35 View north along Maryland State Route 702 (Southeast Boulevard) at Back River Neck Road in20162016-07-27 12 50 35 View north along Maryland State R…2016-07-27 12 33 34 View south along Maryland State Route 702 (Southeast Boulevard) at Homberg Avenue in20162016-07-27 12 33 34 View south along Maryland State R…Paddle Wheel Steamer2015Paddle Wheel SteamerFree Hulls2015Free HullsFlock Under Areostat2015Flock Under AreostatEssex district court2008Essex district courtChesapeake High School, Essex, Maryland (2007)2007Chesapeake High School, Essex, Maryland (2007)MDMap-doton-Essex2004MDMap-doton-Essex
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
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maryland - Baltimore County, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Essex, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,0001960198020002020Peak: 40,872

Between 35,205 and 40,872 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Essex

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

See all →
D
Dennis F. RasmussenAmerican politician · b. 1947
Ric MetzgarAmerican politician · b. 1953
Robin GrammerAmerican politician · b. 1980
Michael H. Weir, Jr.American politician · b. 1948
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Middle River1 historic placeC+RosedaleIts storyC−Dundalk4 historic placesB+Bowleys QuartersIts storyD

Questions about Essex’s history

What year was Essex founded?

The Essex post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Essex rank for history?

Essex is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #213 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 Essex?

6% of Essex’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1965.

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, 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.