Reisterstown is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,968. Founded by German immigrant

John Reister John Reister (1715–1804) was a German immigrant to America who founded the town of Reisterstown, Maryland in 1758. Born in 1715 and raised in Germany, John Reister moved to America in September 1738. Departing from Rotterdam in the Netherlands ...

in 1758, Reisterstown is located to the northwest of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Though it is older than the surrounding areas, it now serves primarily as a residential suburb of Baltimore. The center is designated the Reisterstown Historic District and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1979. Also listed are the

Montrose Mansion and Chapel Montrose Mansion and Chapel, originally known as Montrose Mansion, is a historic home located on the campus of Camp Fretterd Military Reservation of the Maryland Army National Guard in Reisterstown, Baltimore County, Maryland. It is a two-story ...

and St. Michael's Church. Just outside the community, to its north, is the small military reservation of Camp Fretterd, which serves as a training site for the Maryland Army National Guard and Air Guard. The

Maryland Defense Force The Maryland Defense Force (MDDF) is the state defense force for the state of Maryland. The MDDF is organized as a volunteer military organization organized parallel to the Maryland National Guard and is designed to augment the National Guard durin ...

is also headquartered at Camp Fretterd.

History

Reister's Town

purchased a tract of land, which he called "Reister's Desire", along the Conewago Road on March 2, 1758. He built a

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...

on the site, providing food, drink and lodging for travelers. Other businesses serving travelers soon followed, creating the settlement known as Reister's Town, and eventually Reisterstown. With the purchase in 1763 of another adjoining the original property, Reister began developing both sides of Conewago Road, later renamed

Reisterstown Road Maryland Route 140 (MD 140) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The route runs from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) and US 40 Truck in Baltimore northwest to the Pennsylvania border, where the road continues into that state as Pennsylvania Ro ...

Franklin Academy

In 1764, John Reister purchased a three-quarter acre lot, which he named Church Hill, as a site for the community's first church, a small building constructed of logs. Funded and built by the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

community, the church was free to all denominations. The building also served as a school house, a secondary function typical of churches at that time. The town raised money with a public subscription and replaced the log building with a brick school building in 1824, named Franklin Academy in honor of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. A

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

was added to the school in 1826. Franklin Academy became the first public high school in the county in 1874 and one of the earliest schools to join the Baltimore County school system. The former Franklin Academy was converted into a public library in the early 1900s. It still stands beside the Reisterstown Community Cemetery, across the street from the present-day Franklin Middle School. Franklin Academy's cupola, known as the Franklin Bell, is in front of Franklin High School.

Education

Public schools

* Elementary: Franklin, Cedarmere, Glyndon, Reisterstown, Timber Grove, and Chatsworth. All are grades K–5. Franklin, Cedarmere, Glyndon, and Reisterstown also provide

preschool education A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary schoo ...

. * Middle: Franklin (Grades 6–8) * High: Franklin (Grades 9–12)

Private schools

Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a ...

School (Grades 9–12) * Sacred Heart Parochial School (Grades K–8 and preschool)

Town recreation

The Reisterstown Area Recreation Council (RRC) organizes athletic and recreational activities for the Reisterstown area. Its athletic programs included the following during 2010.

Athletics

All sports are split up into appropriate age groups for better match ups between skill levels. The RRC also holds adult leagues for boxing, volleyball, men's basketball, and men's 40+ basketball.

Other activities

Reisterstown has two annual festivals, organized with help from the RRC. * The Bloomin' ArtsFest, at the Franklin Middle School grounds, held in May. * The Reisterstown Festival, at Hannah More Park, held in September. http://reisterstownfest.com/

Music on Main Street

Every year the Reisterstown Improvement Association organizes free concerts on Friday nights through the late spring to early fall. All concerts are held at the Franklin Middle School (10 Cockeys Mill Road, Reisterstown MD). Lineup for 2022: https://www.reisterstown.com/music-on-main-street/

Reisterstown Farmers Market

The 2022 Reisterstown Farmers Market is held Sundays June 5th through October 30th from 9am – 1pm at Franklin Middle School Main Street lawn. (10 Cockeys Mill Road, Reisterstown MD) https://www.reisterstown.com/farmers-market/

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Reisterstown CDP occupies , all land. The community stretches along Reisterstown Road ( Maryland Route 140) and the Northwestern Expressway ( Interstate 795) just north of

Owings Mills Owings Mills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. Per the 2020 census, the population was 35,674. Owings Mills is home to the northern terminus of ...

. Its northern boundary lies near the junction of MD-140 and Hanover Pike (MD-30), which heads north towards Hampstead. MD-140 passes the northern end of I-795 and continues northwest as Westminster Pike, heading towards Finksburg and

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. The community of Glyndon is located adjacent to the northern portion of Reisterstown along Butler Road ( MD-128), which connects Reisterstown with the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway (

Interstate 83 Interstate 83 (I-83) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern terminus is at I-81 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mo ...

). To the east of Reisterstown is the community of Worthington, located around

Greenspring Avenue Greenspring Avenue is a road in Baltimore, Maryland and its northwestern suburbs. At one time, Greenspring Avenue was Maryland Route 519 from Worthington Road to Dover Road, but the road has since been decommissioned and no longer has any numeri ...

and Park Heights Avenue ( MD-129). To the west of Reisterstown is Liberty Reservoir.

Transportation

Roads

Major roads in the Reisterstown area include: * Butler Road (MD-128) * Bond Avenue * Cockeys Mill Road * Central Avenue *

Deer Park Road The following are major and notable roads in Baltimore County, Maryland. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T W Y See also * List of streets in Baltimore, Maryland References {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of ...

* Dover Road * Franklin Boulevard * Hanover Pike (MD-30) * Ivy Mill Road * Main Street (MD-140) * Northwest Expressway (I-795), an interstate highway that connects the community to the Baltimore Beltway *

Red Run Boulevard The following are major and notable roads in Baltimore County, Maryland. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T W Y See also * List of streets in Baltimore, Maryland References {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of ...

(MD-140), the central road and the major transportation artery of the ''town'' * Sacred Heart Lane (formerly MD-127) * Westminster Pike (MD-140) * Worthington Avenue * Berrymans Lane

Demographics

The

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010 reported that there were 25,968 people and 6,740 families residing in the Reisterstown

(CDP), living in 10,133 of available housing units. The racial makeup of the CDP was 57.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 29.3%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.4% Native American, 6.3%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 3.7% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 3.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 8.9% of the population. Of the community's 10,133 households, 33.0% had children under 18 years, 44.5% were married couples living together, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. Individuals living alone occupied 81.2% of the non-family households; 30.4% of these individuals were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.07. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 27.1% under the age of 20, 6.5% from 20 to 25, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.2 years. In the 2009-2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the median income for a household in the CDP was $60,201, and the median income for a family was $65,911. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $72,714. About 11.6% of families and 14.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 20.1% of those under age 18 and 6.6%% of those age 65 or over. As of July, 2019, Reisterstown has become a

majority minority A majority-minority or minority-majority area is a term used to refer to a subdivision in which one or more racial, ethnic, and/or religious minorities (relative to the whole country's population) make up a majority of the local population. Ter ...

community. Non-Hispanic

whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

are a plurality, constituting 45% of the population.

References

External links

* , including photo from 2006, at Maryland Historical Trust
Photo of Franklin Middle School
''Portfolio Historic Architecture''. Rubeling & Associates.
Reisterstown.com
''Local Events Calendar; Shopping, Dining and Business Directory, maintained by the Reisterstown Improvement Association'' {{authority control Census-designated places in Baltimore County, Maryland Census-designated places in Maryland Populated places established in 1758 1758 establishments in Maryland