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C−History
History · Owings

Owings’ post office opened in 1902, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #187 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Maidstone. Most of Owings was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: maps from 1892 on.

1902first post office
1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Owings began

When was Owings founded?

1902

The Owings post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Paris (1910), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 2,141124 years

How historic is Owings?

C−

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Owings’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Owings is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #187 of 261 in Maryland. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Owings’ overall grade.
Founding era1902, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19401.3% of homes (±2.1) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 3.8 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 17%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 28%

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 Owings’ 3.8 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±2.1 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 Owings’ 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 Owings 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 1970. Watch Owings change.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Owings, and 9 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Owings’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Owings’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

Owings on the map, 1892 to 1970

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

Owings on the 1892 USGS mapOwings on the 1901 USGS mapOwings on the 1910 USGS mapOwings on the 1938 USGS mapOwings on the 1953 USGS mapOwings on the 1970 USGS map1892Prince Frederick 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 Owings.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Owings’s post office has been open since 1902. Another post office, Paris, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Owings
1902–today
Paris
1910–1956
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Amber WoodeCattertons ReachFox Dale WoodsHutchins ChoiceOwings HillsOwings StationParisParis EstatesQuince View Meadows

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

The story

How Owings came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Owings.

Read it all →

Before the arrival of the railroad, Calvert County was a rural county with few roads and no railroads. It had no factories, and the primary industry was tobacco farming, like most of Southern Maryland before the Civil War.

The Owings family had been present in Maryland since the 18th century in various roles, such as real-estate brokers, merchants, and tradesmen. The family was instrumental in the development of the North Beach/Chesapeake Beach area as a summer resort. It was also instrumental in planning the Chesapeake Beach Railway and utilizing it to ship canned goods out of the county.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Owings, 1892 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Owings post office opens
  5. 1910Post officeThe Paris post office opens
  6. 1956Post officeThe Paris post office closes
By decade

Owings, decade by decade

Today6 recent
2016-07-20 18 32 58 View north along Maryland State 778 (Old Solomons Island Road) just north of Grovers Turn Road in20162016-07-20 18 32 58 View north along Maryland State 7…2016-07-20 18 31 23 View south along Maryland State 778 (Old Solomons Island Road) just south of Grovers Turn Road in20162016-07-20 18 31 23 View south along Maryland State 7…2016-07-20 18 30 30 View north along Maryland State 778 (Old Solomons Island Road) just north of Maryland State Route 2…20162016-07-20 18 30 30 View north along Maryland State 7…2016-07-20 18 25 47 View south along Maryland State Route 765 (Mount Harmony Lane) at Maryland State Route 2 (Solomons …20162016-07-20 18 25 47 View south along Maryland State R…2016-07-20 18 24 10 View north along Maryland State Route 765 (Mount Harmony Lane) at Mount Harmony Road in20162016-07-20 18 24 10 View north along Maryland State R…2016-07-20 16 53 47 View west along Maryland State Route 260 (Chesapeake Beach Road) near Fawn Stafford Way in20162016-07-20 16 53 47 View west along Maryland State Ro…
On the National Register

1 historic place in Owings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Maidstone
Buildings
MaidstoneBuilding

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Owings

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

See all →
Markelle FultzAmerican basketball player · b. 1998
John CarrollFirst Roman Catholic bishop and archbishop in t… · b. 1735
Daniel CarrollAmerican politician, signer of the US Constitut… · b. 1730
Chase YoungAmerican football player · b. 1999
Jeff Dowtin Jr.American basketball player · b. 1997
Brett CecilAmerican baseball player · b. 1986
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Friendship1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Owings’ history

What year was Owings founded?

The Owings post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Owings rank for history?

Owings is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #187 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 Owings?

One place: the Maidstone (listed 1971).

How old are the homes in Owings?

1% of Owings’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 2001.

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 National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.