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CHistory
History · Mayo

Mayo’s post office opened in 1891, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #129 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Mayo was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Its Register listing is the Gresham. Below: maps from 1892 on.

1891first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Mayo began

When was Mayo founded?

1891

The Mayo post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Rhode River (1852), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 8,832135 years

How historic is Mayo?

C

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Mayo’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mayo is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #129 of 261 in Maryland. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mayo’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.7% of homes (±1.6) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 2.3 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 34%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 51%

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 Mayo’s 2.3 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 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 Mayo’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 Mayo, and 23 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mayo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18926 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1993. Watch Mayo change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Mayo’s post office has been open since 1891. Another post office, Rhode River, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Rhode River
1852–1891
Mayo
1891–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beverly BeachCape Loch HavenCarrs RidgeCloverleaCoxby EstatesGatts CornerGermantownGlebe HeightsHarbor ViewHolly Hill HarborJacksons CornerLarkingtonLoch Haven BeachOld Cedar PointPonder CoveRiver Club EstatesSaunders PointSelby BeachSelby-on-the-BayShoreham BeachTurkey PointTurnbull EstatesWest Shoreham
Gone or out of use
Hopes ChapelchurchHopes Chapel SchoolschoolSaint Josephs Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mayo
Hope Methodist Episcopal ChapelMayo United Methodist ChurchSaint Andrews

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

Help out

Start Mayo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mayo’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
On the map

Mayo on the map, 1892 to 1993

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

Mayo on the 1892 USGS mapMayo on the 1905 USGS mapMayo on the 1944 USGS mapMayo on the 1957 USGS mapMayo on the 1970 USGS mapMayo on the 1993 USGS map1892Owensville 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 Mayo.

The story

How Mayo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mayo.

Read it all →

Mayo takes its name from Commodore Isaac Mayo, who distinguished himself in the Mexican–American War. Commodore Mayo held a large tract of land on the South River, known in the early 1900s as "Mayo's Neck", that had been the home estate of Captain Nicholas Gassaway, the son of Maryland politician Colonel Nicholas Gassaway. His home, known as Gresham, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Martenet's 1860 map of Anne Arundel County, Maryland shows the place name for this area to be "Scrabble Town" previous to the change to Mayo.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mayo, 1852 to 1985

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Rhode River post office opens
  3. 1891Post officeThe Rhode River post office closes
  4. 1891Post officeThe Mayo post office opens
  5. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1985Born hereJacob Bender is born here
By decade

Mayo, decade by decade

Today4 recent
2020-06-21 13 41 57 View west along Maryland State Route 214 (Grandview Avenue) at Oakford Avenue in Mayo, Anne Arundel…20202020-06-21 13 41 57 View west along Maryland State Ro…Homidia sauteri2018Homidia sauteri2016-08-18 11 40 27 View west along Maryland State Route 214 (Central Avenue) at Maryland State Route 468 (Muddy Creek …20162016-08-18 11 40 27 View west along Maryland State Ro…2016-08-18 11 31 22 View west along Maryland State Route 214 (Grande View Avenue) at Oakford Avenue in Mayo, Anne Arund…20162016-08-18 11 31 22 View west along Maryland State Ro…
On the National Register

1 historic place in Mayo

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Gresham
Gresham
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
Greek Revival1
All 1 listings
GreshamBuilding · listed 1984

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Edgewater1 historic placeC+Annapolis NeckIts storyC−

Questions about Mayo’s history

What year was Mayo founded?

The Mayo post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Mayo rank for history?

Mayo is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #129 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 Mayo?

One place: the Gresham (listed 1984).

How old are the homes in Mayo?

4% of Mayo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1992.

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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.