AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
Brought to you by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi
Having noted that the State of Maryland has a number of significant events planned to celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary, I thought it would be fun to meet with town historian F. Scott Jay to chat about Severna Park’s past, present and future. Sunlight filtered through the window as Jay reflected that few obvious traces of Severna Park’s beginnings remain because landmarks that were once beacons of the 118-year-old town have been obscured or overtaken by successive waves of residential and commercial construction.
With easily recognizable “traces” of the town’s early history now largely invisible, I asked Jay what he thinks about the state of current day Severna Park.
“I’m normally an optimist,” he said. “But intense overdevelopment has destroyed so much of what was attractive about our area. Every postage stamp of land is being built on, and the community is becoming too much like Baltimore City. I actually believe the area is becoming less appealing. Yet, I know of two young families hoping to move out of an apartment and move here where they grew up but the cost of houses is too prohibitive.”
We were both aware that Severna Park was but one part of the larger community of “Boone” when formed in 1906. The rustic town endured until June 16, 1925 when its address officially became Severna Park.
“But Boone’s origins date to the 1600’s with a 26,000-acre land grant from King Charles I to George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore,” Jay said. “By the 1700’s, the Lords Baltimore had conveyed the acreage in the form of three grants. Norman’s Fancy, Randall’s Purchase and Hopkins’ Addition would form the nucleus of Boone.”
He added that the Randall’s Purchase parcel providing the core was sold in 1721 to John Earnshaw and shortly thereafter to John Worthington.
In 1725 the parcel was sold to Richard and Hester Linstid (Linstead) and called Randall’s Range.
“The couple had a notorious reputation and perished in 1750, leaving their 10-year-old son, John, and 13-year-old daughter Elizabeth destitute,” Jay said. “John served in bondage to a weaver until he was 21, but owned Randall’s Range and paid taxes on it from 1759 to 1771 and again in 1774. It was likely John who built the still existing Linstid/Linstead farmhouse in 1758.”
Joseph McCubbin purchased the land in 1774, transferring it to daughter Dorcas, and her husband, William Hammond, in 1806. They apparently acquired the adjoining grants and renamed the property Cedar Neck.
Linstid’s son, John Linstid, Jr. repurchased the 227-acre property in 1817. Two years later, Linstid Jr.’s son George inherited it. At George’s death, in 1856, the working farm was divided into three 91.5 acre lots for his three children, one of which went to Elizabeth Linstid Boone, wife of farm owner Thomas Boone. In 1852, the Boones opened the Boone School at the present site of Severna Park Elementary School. In 1853, as part of the Boone homestead, they built the lovely antebellum house seen below that today is part of the Severn School campus.
Necessities could be bought at Boones Store, built and operated by Tom Boone. The Boones also sold a strip of land to the Annapolis & Baltimore Short Line Railroad in 1896 and by 1906, Boone Station opened and the community’s name, Boone, became official. Commerce boomed with the building of stores like Grotsky’s and Boros. That same year Severn Realty Company purchased the former Boone family properties, subdivided them and sold them as vacation homes. Lawyer Oscar L. Hatton created the Severna Company to administer them and named the development Severna Park.
In 1925, the Post Office officially adopted the name Severna Park and the town of Boone faded into history.
It is an amazing coincidence that Scott Jay has lived in two historic Severna Park houses. The first – his boyhood home at the corner of Riggs Avenue and Evergreen Road opposite Severn School – was built by George Boone in 1856. Jay’s father purchased it in 1940 from Severna Park founder Oscar Hatton. (The lot still exists but, sadly, the charming home was torn down a few years ago and replaced by two new houses.)
The second historic Severna Park home Jay and wife Donna owned (from 1985 till 2001) and extensively renovated was the Linstead farmhouse. The house changed through the years under various owners including the Riggs brothers who purchased it in 1906. However, at the time the Jays bought it, it was in bad shape – particularly the floors which had to be completely replaced.
“When having guests for dinner while living there, we’d sit around the dining room table and imagine what sort of topics might have been discussed there more than 200 years ago,” Jay said. “The Revolutionary War was bound to have been a topic.”
“It was also fun to speculate what it would have been like to be a guest when Francis and Harry Riggs owned the Linstead property. The Riggs brothers were fraternal twins who were wealthy and politically influential Baltimore businessmen and loved to party. They entertained lavishly and Maryland governors, including Governor Albert Ritchie, were there often.”
“On a more serious note, what remains from the earliest days of the community are cemeteries including the African American graveyard at Carpenter’s Hill and the one behind Linstead house where Linstids are buried. It was sobering to realize some of them died in our bedroom.”
While 18th and 19th century traces are pretty much confined to what remains of Linstid and Boone properties, a few early 20th century buildings remain. In 1913, a new railroad which also housed the Post Office was built at Boone that was later renamed the Severna Park Railroad Station. The building still exists and is home to the Severna Park Model Railroad Club.
Celebrating its 96th anniversary this year, Goska’s Liquors was opened as a general store in the 1920’s by the Kleiss family and sold to brothers Walter and Alex Goska in 1930. The family business was taken over from their father Walter by brothers Kevin and Michael Sosnoski in 1995. Below is the business as it appeared in the 1930’s,
Built in the 1920’s opposite the Severna Park Train Station is one of Olde Severna Park’s newest businesses, The Sugar Shoppe owned and operated by Jamie Denton and business partner Eloise Patton.
The building was briefly a grocery store but was known, for more than a decade, as Doc Codd’s pharmacy. In 1944, following the death of Dr. Francis Codd, it became Cliff Dawson’s variety store featuring liquor sales, a soda fountain and a slot machine. In 1952, Dawson’s relocated and the building became home to the Antique Marketplace. In the spring of 2021, MaryAnn and Cam Neal took over the retail space and opened The Red Apron Shoppe.
Asked what he thinks about the future, Jay echoed the opinion of others that many of the houses being constructed are not well-built, are overcrowded and won’t necessarily attract future homebuyers. Severna Park’s business climate seems okay for the present but it’s very difficult to open a new business here so it will be interesting to see what happens.
Celebrate 250 years of American History in Maryland
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, SAIL250 Maryland and Airshow Baltimore will take place from June 24th thru 30th. The family-friendly weeklong event will welcome international tall ships, US Navy and Coast Guard vessels, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, and other aviation performers for an air show over Baltimore Harbor. There is much more. To check out events happening in Baltimore, Annapolis and elsewhere, visit America’s 250th Celebration in Maryland Events | VisitMaryland.org.
The Around The Park Again column is brought to you this week by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi at 1195 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. – For over two decades providing martial arts training that improves cardio-vascular health, strength and flexibility while reducing stress. Jing Ying is again bringing Tai Chi to the Severna Park Community Center. From health-defense to self-defense, Jing Ying provides fitness with a purpose for the whole family!
and by Lean On Dee Senior Home Care Services at 815 Ritchie Hwy., Suite 206 – When you need someone to lean on, Lean On Dee. Their experienced team of personal care management specialists and friendly companions provide high quality consistent care.
