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History · Highland

Highland’s post office opened in 1878

Most of Highland was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994.

1878first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Highland began

When was Highland founded?

1878

The Highland post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wall's Cross Roads (1874), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1,133148 years
Founding year: the first Highland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Highland’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Highland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Highland, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Highland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Highland’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Highland’s post office has been open since 1878. Another post office, Wall's Cross Roads, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wall's Cross Roads
1874–1878
Highland
1878–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Greene FieldsHall Shop EstatesHemlock HillWhite Oak Estates
1cemetery inside Highland
Saint Mark's

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

The story

How Highland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Highland.

Read it all →

The majority of the downtown Highland district is situated within the 418-acre (169 ha) land grant named "Hickory Ridge". The Rouse Company borrowed the land grant name for one of its nearby villages of Columbia, built in 1974. The historic "White Hall" or "Hickory Ridge" estate (1749) was owned by the Ridgely, Hopkins and Disney families. One of the earliest businesses at the crossroads was Well's tavern, founded by Richard Wells in 1759. This was replaced with a wheelwright's shop by Joshua B. Disney in 1842. The same year, William Wall opened a general store and post office, giving the crossroads the short-lived name of "Walls Crossroads" before another name change of the post office on December 2, 1878, to "Highland" to reflect the town's elevation in Howard County. The County Commissioners added Hall Shop Road on the southern side of the community in 1877. The town did not receive …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Highland, 1873 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Born hereSamuel Harding is born here
  3. 1874Post officeThe Wall's Cross Roads post office opens
  4. 1878Post officeThe Wall's Cross Roads post office closes
  5. 1878Post officeThe Highland post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1962Born hereBrian Johnston is born here
By decade

Highland, decade by decade

Today4 recent
2016-09-16 13 31 25 View east along Maryland State Route 216 (Scaggsville Road) at Maryland State Route 108 (Clarksvill…20162016-09-16 13 31 25 View east along Maryland State Ro…2016-09-15 17 17 05 View east along Maryland State Route 108 (Clarksville Pike) at Maryland State Route 216 (Scaggsvill…20162016-09-15 17 17 05 View east along Maryland State Ro…St. Mark's Episcopal Church2015St. Mark's Episcopal ChurchMt. Zion United Methodist Church, speaker2014Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, speaker
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Highland

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

See all →
B
Brian JohnstonAmerican football player · b. 1962
S
Samuel HardingAmerican college football coach · b. 1873

Questions about Highland’s history

What year was Highland founded?

The Highland post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.