![MDMap-doton-Laurel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/MDMap-doton-Laurel.PNG)
Whiskey Bottom Road is a historic road north of
Laurel, Maryland
Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. While the city limits are entirely in northern Prince George's County, outlying developments extend into Anne Arunde ...
that traverses
Anne Arundel
Anne Calvert, Baroness Baltimore (née Hon. Anne Arundell; c. 1615/1616G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, G ...
and
Howard
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
Counties in an area that was first settled by English colonists in the mid-1600s. The road was named in the 1880s in association with one of its residents delivering whiskey after a
prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
vote. With increased residential development after World War II, it was designated a
collector road
A collector road or distributor road is a low-to-moderate-capacity road which serves to move traffic from local streets to arterial roads. Unlike arterials, collector roads are designed to provide access to residential properties. Rarely, juris ...
in the 1960s; a community center and park are among the most recent roadside developments.
Route description
Whiskey Bottom Road runs through
North Laurel, Maryland
North Laurel is a census-designated place (CDP) in Howard County, Maryland, United States. The published population was 4,474 at the 2010 census. This population was substantially less than the CDP's population in 2000, and was the result of an er ...
starting at the later
Maryland Route 198
Maryland Route 198 (MD 198) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs from MD 650 near Spencerville east to the entrance of Fort George G. Meade beyond its junction with MD 32. MD 198 connects Laurel in far northern ...
in
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...
. The road continues westward across
U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...
and terminates at a dead end just prior to the
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
and
Route 216 interchange in
Howard County, Maryland
Howard County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 287,085. As of the 2020 census its population rose to 328,200. Its county seat is Ellicott City. Howard County is included in the Baltimore-Colu ...
, which were built long after this historic road.
;Disused or renamed sections
![WBR-1795](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/WBR-1795.png)
Martenet's 1860 Map of Howard County Maryland, and the 1861 Map of
Prince George's County, Maryland
)
, demonym = Prince Georgian
, ZIP codes = 20607–20774
, area codes = 240, 301
, founded date = April 23
, founded year = 1696
, named for = Prince George of Denmark
, leader_title = Executive
, leader_name = Angela D. Alsobroo ...
, from the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, clearly depict the original road. Approximately 60% of that original has been renamed after being bisected by I-95, then further divided by Maryland Route 198 and I-295.
Starting from the northwest to the southeast:
*Whiskey Bottom Road once started at the site of the
lime kiln
A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is
:Calcium carbonate, Ca ...
s at the intersection of modern-day Brown's Bridge Road and Lime Kiln Road in Howard County, Maryland.
*The original path continues on what is now labeled
Scaggsville Road in
Scaggsville, Maryland.
*Crossing the
Columbia Turnpike built in 1810, the road continues Southeast until it terminates at the present I-95 and Route 216 interchange.
*The section of road overlapping the interchange was removed for the construction of Interstate Highway I-95 in the mid-1960s. This is the former location of the farm where the poet and scholar
Sterling Allen Brown
Sterling Allen Brown (May 1, 1901 – January 13, 1989) was an American professor, folklorist, poet, and literary critic. He chiefly studied black culture of the Southern United States and was a professor at Howard University for most of his caree ...
lived as a child.
*In 2009 an additional section of road was removed for the building of Emerson One by
Ryan Development.
*In 2011, a County Council proposal was made that, as the remainder of Whiskey Bottom Road adjacent to I-95 and 64.664 acres of Howard County-owned, wooded open space is unusable by the public, it should be given to the Emerson Development HOA LLC, waiving bidding requirements.
;Current road description
Whiskey Bottom Road maintains its original historical path and name until meeting with Maryland route 198 in Anne Arundel County. The path continues to the southeast under several different names.
*From Maryland Route 198 Southeastward the path takes on the name Old Annapolis Road running through
Maryland City.
*Old Annapolis merges with a section of Red Clay Road, which changes its name shortly afterward to Hillside Road and terminates just prior to I-295
*The path is bisected, starting again within the
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is a biological research center in Maryland. It is one of 17 research centers in the United States run by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The center is located on the grounds of the Patuxent Research R ...
/
Fort Meade
Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the ...
complex with an unpaved section named Columbus Road and Combat Road.
*The last section of the path is a dirt road called Hill road. This wooded section was the location of "C.old Methodist Church", The
J.H. Snowden Farm, and School House No.26 in 1861.
*At what is now the intersection of Switchboard Road, the original Whiskey Bottom Road merged with the Historic Davidsonville Road that ran through
Davidsonville to
Annapolis
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
.
Intersections
History
Origins
The
North Laurel
North Laurel is a census-designated place (CDP) in Howard County, Maryland, United States. The published population was 4,474 at the 2010 census. This population was substantially less than the CDP's population in 2000, and was the result of an er ...
region has origins dating to 1650. In a passage from the book ''The founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland'', the author cites letters describing the conflict between the Native Americans and the new settlers of the area...
''In 1681, Robert Proctor, from his town on the Severn, Thomas Francis, from South River and Colonel Samuel Lane, from the same section, all wrote urgent letters stating that the Indians had killed and wounded both Negroes and English men "at a plantation of Major Welsh's," and "had attempted to enter the houses of Mr.
Mareen Duvall
Mareen Duvall (1625–1694)
was a French Huguenot and an early American settler.
Background
Mareen Duvall was born in 1625, in Nantes, France and was originally named Marin Duval. On August 28, 1650, Duvall emigrated as an Indentured Servan ...
and Richard Snowden."'' The farms and their owners described are shown later as being along the original starting point of Whiskey Bottom Road.
In the 1950s, inn owner Albert L. Dalton posted a sign along Route 1 which read "Historical Whiskey Bottom Road—Circa 1732 A.D."
The majority of the modern road falls within "Robinhood's Forest", a
land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
between
Laurel
Laurel may refer to:
Plants
* Lauraceae, the laurel family
* Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel
People
* Laurel (given name), people with the given name
* Laurel (surname), people with the surname
* Laurel (mus ...
and
Sandy Spring, Maryland
Sandy Spring is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States.
Geography
Sandy Spring's boundaries are roughly defined as Brooke Road and Dr. Bird Road to the north ...
that was part of the accumulated Birmingham Manor estate of the
Snowden family starting in 1669 with a patent purchased in exchange for of tobacco.
A 1795 map of Anne Arundel County by Dennis Griffith shows the unnamed path that is now known as Whiskey Bottom Road starting at the Ridgley Farm in
Highland, Maryland
Highland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,133. It uses the 20777 zip code.
Geography
The community is located in southern Howar ...
, passing south of Whites Mill in
Savage, Maryland
Savage is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in Howard County, Maryland, United States, approximately south of Baltimore and north of Washington, D.C. It is situated close to the city of Laurel and to the planned co ...
and terminating at the original Birmingham Manor site in South Laurel. Martenet's 1861 Map of Prince George's County and 1860 Map of Howard County show the route in more detail. The Howard County – District 6, Guilford, Savage Factory, Annapolis Junction, Laurel City map published by G. M. Hopkins in 1878 referenced the dirt road as Old Annapolis Road, the expanded 1878 county map from the same publisher contradicted this name and listed it as Laurel Road. The date when the road obtained its name is not well published. Its first newspaper mention was in 1892 as Whisky Bottom. One resident who lived on the road since the 1890s explained that the road name came from the low point near the railroad tracks where trains would pick up wagon-delivered barrels of Maryland Rye whiskey from a distillery near the Laurel Mill.
Others have referenced the road as Sandy Bottom, and Rural Route No. 1. The
Howard County School Board used Whiskey Bottom as the name rather than alternatives in 1939. Geographically, following the fall-line of the road, the "Bottom" of Whiskey Bottom would be the convergence of the Western and Southwestern Branches of the Patuxent River, where goods could be shipped to nearby Upper Marlboro, The Chesapeake Bay, or to Europe.
A large section of the original road is now called Scaggsville Road or
Maryland Route 216
Maryland Route 216 (MD 216) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Scaggsville Road, the highway runs from MD 108 at Highland east to MD 198 in Laurel. MD 216 connects Highland, Fulton, Scaggsville ...
.
The 1600s
Many roads of the region followed Native American footpaths, which themselves followed the most advantageous paths for travel over terrain. Despite the name, Whiskey Bottom follows the highest elevation between rivers to either side, making it the least prone path to flooding or muddy conditions. The path of the modern road very closely aligns with the fall line between the
Patuxent River
The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast ...
and its Northern branches. The fall line originates near modern New Carrollton to the convergence of the Southwest and Western branch of the Patuxent river near Crofton.
Prior to settlement by the English, the lands up and down the Patuxent river were occupied by various tribes of
Algonquin speaking Native Americans. The Native American trails were not paved or marked, but were commonly cleared regularly of underbrush and saplings by controlled fires, creating wide corridors lined only with mature trees up to six feet in diameter. In the 1620s The
Susquehannock
The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...
s pushed tribes out to the Southeast to reduce competition occupying the area as far south as the
Potomac river
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
. The Susquehannocks were well armed hunters and profited from Beaver trading with the English. By 1632
Lord Baltimore claimed title to issue land grants in Maryland through
Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...
. In 1652, the Susquehannocks treatied with Marylanders to keep trade flowing and receive arms to use against the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
to the north. By 1675, efforts were underway to eliminate the Susquehannocks from the region. In 1666, Maryland issued its first road laws, with the path between Leonardtown to Port Tobacco as one of the earliest examples.
![Map of Colonial Maryland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Map_of_Colonial_Maryland.jpg)
In 1685
Lord Baltimore granted Richard Snowden Sr. of land on the Patuxent river (Patented as Robinhood's Forest). The iron works would form the start of the road heading upriver to the northwest. Snowden built Birmingham Manor at the site in 1690 at the terminus of the old post road and the start of Whiskey Bottom. It lasted until a fire on August 20, 1891.
In 1686, the nearby Warfield's range was laid out. Overlook Farm was built on the site; its operators would later account that they would roll tobacco product down Whiskey Bottom Road in barrels toward the Patuxent for shipping. In 1696, Maryland ordered the construction of four "Rolling Roads" to move tobacco to Annapolis in "hogshead" barrels that would be hand rolled, or later pulled by oxen via rope with an axle through the center. This account would have made Old Annapolis (Whiskey Bottom) one of these work roads.
The 1700s
In 1704, Maryland issued instructions to mark all trees along trails to Annapolis with a "AA" mark, and notches for paths that lead to a county seat or church.
In 1732, the Maryland Assembly voted to provide incentives to encourage the iron industry in Maryland. They enacted a law excluding iron workers from required road service. In 1750, this was modified to one in every ten iron laborers were required to perform road maintenance.
In 1736, roadside residents
Richard Snowden III "Ironmaster" (1688–1763), Joseph Cowman, and three other partners founded "Patuxent Iron Work Company", Maryland's first ironworks. The ironworks were built on the site of an even older forge that predated it by some time. From the 1760s to the 1780s the ironworks were managed by Samuel, John and Thomas Snowden, employing a workforce of about 45 slaves. The ironworks peaked with an annual output of 1200 tons. The owners dismantled the furnace in 1856 due to a lack of wood and
ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...
.
The 1800s
![JosephTraversHouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/JosephTraversHouse.jpg)
Most residents of Whiskey Bottom Road in this time were farmers. Typical crops that they would plant were
butter beans and
sugar corn,
radish
The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an Eating, edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman Empire, Roman times.
Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, be ...
es,
beet
The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet ...
s,
eggplant
Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit.
Mos ...
, tobacco, and
apple trees
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
.
Slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
was in common practice among the farmers along the road until
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
. Runaway slave ads were regularly placed by Whiskey Bottom residents in the
Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
newspaper.
In 1822, the Savage Manufacturing Company purchased 600 acres along the northwest corner of the crossroads with the Washington Turnpike to build the
Savage Mill. 181 acres of mixed farm and forest that formed the crossroads with Whiskey Bottom and the Washington Turnpike were sold by the company to John Holland in 1841. The semi-formal stone house he bought still stands, with a Route 1 address due to subdivision.
In 1828, a survey was conducted to run a canal across the road to connect Elkridge to the proposed
C&O Canal
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Potomac Canal, wh ...
via Bladensburg. Rather, the
B&O was constructed. In 1834, fights broke out among rival Irish and German railroad workers. The violence escalated in November when John Watson and William Messer were murdered at the construction site around Whiskey Bottom.
Horace Capron
Horace Capron (August 31, 1804 – February 22, 1885) was an American businessman and agriculturalist, a founder of Laurel, Maryland, a Union officer in the American Civil War, the United States Secretary of Agriculture under U.S. Presiden ...
and other militiamen gathered some 300 workers to be questioned for the murders. In January 1835, Owen Murphey was sentenced to death by hanging at the location of the murders. Patrick Gallagher and Terence Coyle were also sentenced to 18 years of hard labor.
In 1853, the State of Maryland put into law a requirement that all public roads be widened to at least between fences.
Born in
Montgomery County, Gustavus Ober was a prominent Presbyterian Sunday School teacher at All Saint's church and owned several properties along Whiskey Bottom Road. The successful entrepreneur was married into, and partnered with, the Kettlewell family with residences on nearby Gorman road. Together in 1856, they formed the successful Baltimore company G Ober and Sons, marketing "Kettlewell's Manipulated Guano". The company stopped production when the civil war cut off its customer base in the southern states.
![Maria Bacon House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Maria_Bacon_House.jpg)
The Bacontown community along the Anne Arundel portion of Whiskey Bottom Road was established by the freed slave Maria Bacon. A road sign proclaims "Bacontown EST. 1860". Approximately 3 dozen small homes were established along with a church and schoolhouse. The community consists of multi-generational families who have worked together to drive out crime and prevent redevelopment of a community that looks much the same as it did in the 20th century. Bacontown was the last neighborhood along the road to link to city water and sewer service, in 1997. The Mount Zion United Methodist Church an
Bacontown Parkare the most visible landmarks.
In 1862, during the Civil War, Brig.-Gen. John C. Robinson commanded troops guarding the B&O railroad. The First Michigan Regiment was assigned to the section crossing Whiskey Bottom Road. United States postal mail started service to residents of "Whiskey Bottom Road" from the Laurel post office in 1899.
By 1874, Prince George's County disallowed gates across public roads. Prior to this law, it was common for roads running through large farms and plantations to gate the road rather than fence along either side. Riders would have to dismount, open and close each gate along the way.
The 1900s
A dirt oval racetrack once operated in the early 20th century at the southeast corner of Whiskey Bottom and Brock Bridge Roads. During prohibition, the road hosted speakeasies with houses outfitted with hidden rooms and liquor storage in the walls to hide supplies from stills along the Hammond Branch river (Patuxent).
The road became the link for communities such as Highland to the nearest train station in Laurel. After the great depression, many family farms were sold to pay back taxes and were subdivided into lots for owner-built homes. Construction of these homes peaked after World War II. Shortly after city water was provided to the Howard county residents in the 1960s, Whiskey Bottom Road was designated a
collector road
A collector road or distributor road is a low-to-moderate-capacity road which serves to move traffic from local streets to arterial roads. Unlike arterials, collector roads are designed to provide access to residential properties. Rarely, juris ...
. The majority of home construction from that point on has been in the form of developments on subdivided property managed by
homeowners association
A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...
s. Only one house on the historic road is listed in Howard County's Historic property inventory: The Joseph Travers House, a Folk Victorian dwelling built on land called "Sappington's Sweep" in 1890 over the site of an earlier 1862 house.
![North Laurel Aug 1998](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/North_Laurel_Aug_1998.jpg)
Between 1936 and 1940 the construction of the
Patuxent Research Refuge
The Patuxent Research Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, established in 1936 by executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is the only National Wildlife Refuge in the country estab ...
displaced all residents along the southeast section of the road. The construction of I-295 cut off access to the road, and its remaining sections were renamed. The cut-off-road sections were used to train troops and tank operators during WWII, and were returned to the wildlife research center in 1991.
![Turf Motel Laurel Maryland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Turf_Motel_Laurel_Maryland.jpg)
After WWII, Israel Kroop operated Kroop's Goggles on Whiskey Bottom behind the racetrack. He developed innovative semi-disposable vented
goggles
Goggles, or safety glasses, are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and ...
that have become the standard for jockeys and skydivers. The business continued after Kroop's death in 1991; the family sold it in 2008, and its product remains locally produced in
Savage, Maryland
Savage is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in Howard County, Maryland, United States, approximately south of Baltimore and north of Washington, D.C. It is situated close to the city of Laurel and to the planned co ...
.
In 1959, the plans for construction of the I-95 highway that eventually bisected Whiskey Bottom Road were met with protests.
On the northwest corner of U.S. Route 1 and Whiskey Bottom Road, Crickett's California Inn hosted live bands from the 1960s until its relocation in 2008. The bar hosted various formats, switching to country in the 1990s and karaoke in the first decade of the 21st century. The bar was previously known as Randy's California Inn, and The California Inn.
![NestlePlant](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/NestlePlant.jpg)
The
Edy's Ice Cream plant on the northeast corner of U.S. Route 1 and Whiskey Bottom Road is the second-largest ice cream manufacturing facility in the world. A smaller plant was originally built by Clifford Y. Stephens at the site in 1961. The factory packaged goods for
High's Dairy Stores
High's of Baltimore, LLC, doing business as High's Dairy Stores, is a chain of gas stations and convenience stores in and around Baltimore, Maryland. , the chain has 60 locations, the majority of which are in Maryland, plus four in Pennsylvania ...
. In 1987 the facility was acquired by
Southland Southland may refer to:
Places Canada
* Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia
New Zealand
* Southland Region, a region of New Zealand
* Southland County, a former New Zealand county
* Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...
and later by
Nestle, which owns the Edy's and Dreyer's brands. In 2003 a $210 million expansion was built on land previously operated as Pfister's mobile home park. Seventy three families were moved out of the trailer park that had operated since World War II. Prior to that, the land was operated as a chicken farm. The adjoining office complex once occupied by High's management is now the Phillip's School for Contemporary Education.
In 1958,
Melville W. Beardsley founded National Research Associates company and settled on Whiskey Bottom Road in 1961. NRA developed and tested over 30 air cushion vehicles, with the Air Gem Air cushion vehicle produced as their first product. NRA also sold Disney's
Flying Saucers
A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...
attraction under license. The Company went out of business in 1963.
In 1962, were rezoned at the corner of Whiskey Bottom and All Saint's Road to form the Whiskey Bottom Apartments, the first development along the road.
The New Millennium
The
2001 Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. tornado outbreak brought an F3 tornado on a direct path crossing Whiskey Bottom Road. The tornado lifted momentarily and set back down on the other side of the road. Nearby buildings just a few hundred feet North and South of the road showed significant tornado damage.
![North Laurel Community Center Opening](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/North_Laurel_Community_Center_Opening.jpg)
In 2009, the primary entrance to th
North Laurel Community Centerwas realigned to Whiskey Bottom Road. A
Leed Silver certified community center and park was built at the location and opened on June 3, 2011. It features amenities similar to th
Glenwood Community Centerin Northern Howard County. The funding and takeover of the various undeveloped properties through
eminent domain
Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
was a multi-decade effort. The project has been supported by local leaders and community groups, with some criticism over the environmental impact, effect on adjoining properties, and the safety of the road entrance.
Namesake distillery
![Auchentoshan04](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Auchentoshan04.jpg)
In 1899 a large monopoly, The Distilling Company of America, pooled $125 million to buy all the distilleries on the east coast, and consolidate the production to a few sites, effectively wiping out all large Maryland Rye Distilleries. The path that is now Whiskey Bottom Road, would have included settlements, farms and plantations spanning from Davidsonville to Highland, any of which commonly produced whiskey in small quantities. One resident's recollection from the late 1800s noted the "Maryland Rye" distillery was near the Laurel Mill, which used wagons to get the product to "Whiskey Bottom".
In the 1879 book ''History of Tama County, Iowa'', the author states that after a prohibition vote in April 1855, the residents drank the first barrel of pure whiskey delivered by a man named
Rouse
Rouse may refer to:
Places
* Rouse, California, United States, a census-designated place
* Rouse, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community
* Rouses Point, New York, United States, a village
* Rouse Islands, Antarctica
* Cape Rouse, An ...
living on Whiskey Bottom Road. "The road was named from this circumstance". The Iowa
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, the ...
Reservation shares an area with the uncommon Whiskey Bottom name. The Maryland road was named about the same time, under similar circumstances, and a family named Rouse also played an influential role in the area. Due to unflattering connotations, the Meskwaki reservation eventually changed its Whiskey Bottom Road name to "Battlefield Road".
Road name controversy
Whiskey Bottom or Patuxent
Long-time residents associate the Whiskey Bottom name with a former whiskey distillery, a whiskey cart trail, and in later years with
speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States d ...
s and
still
A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used ...
s that were hosted in various farmhouses along the road. For some, the perceived negative connotation of alcohol or alcoholism prompted attempts to hide, or change the road's name. Proponent W.R. Skeels took the connotation more seriously, declaring Whisky as the "Water of degradation and death".
Name change efforts were publicized as far away as Florida in an
Ocala
Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida.
Home to ...
Star-Banner newspaper article from May 3, 1955, titled "''Battle of Whiskey Bottom Road Rages''".
[
In the 1950s, a lawyer named W.O. Skeels petitioned a Maryland Congressman Steele to rename the street Patuxent Drive. Resident W.R. Shauck complained to the press that he was told by a realtor that he was on Old Annapolis Road when he purchased the land a decade earlier, and it had to be changed.] The change was passed without notice to the residents.[ A 1950 Washington Post article proclaimed that the new Patuxent Drive was now "dignified". In 1954 the matter was brought to the ]Maryland State Roads Commission
The Maryland State Highway Administration (abbreviated MDOT SHA or simply SHA) is the state transportation business unit responsible for maintaining Maryland's numbered highways outside Baltimore City. Formed originally under authority of the Ge ...
. Markers for Patuxent Drive were placed at US Route 1. In the ensuing battle of county vs. state rights, Howard County sided with the name of Whiskey Bottom. Residents in this time would address their mail to both street names depending on their preference, but Patuxent Drive fell out of use over time. C.H. Lamparter, owner of "Randy's California Inn" noted that "The name was changed when nobody was even looking"..."When the petitions are finished going around, we will still be calling the road what we always have called it."
Whiskey and school
In October 1962, the Laurel Planning and Redevelopment Corporation gave Howard County 27 acres of woodland to build the Whiskey Bottom Road Elementary School within a proposed high-density development seeking zoning approval. The name was chosen in a 1972 board meeting. There were concerns about the name from the first hearings, but board members believed the historical value outweighed any negative connotations. The new "open layout" school opened in 1973. Although the property reached to Whiskey Bottom Road, the school entrance and address was on North Laurel Road. The name was later shortened to Whiskey Bottom Elementary School. In 1991 a student movement considered the name unsuitable due to associations with alcohol and being considered ranked at "The Bottom". The new name for the school was Laurel Woods Elementary due to its proximity to the largest remaining stand of woods in Laurel. The majority of these woods were cleared in 2010 for the North Laurel Community Center.
Whiskey or Whisky
The road name has been spelled ''Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...
Bottom Road'' and more recently, ''Whiskey Bottom Road''. Although both are valid spellings, the later name associates it with liquor distilled in America or Ireland rather than Canada, Japan or Wales.
Scaggsville or Rocky Gorge
Western sections of the original road ran past the farm of the Scaggs family, in Scaggsville, Maryland, and have the name Scaggsville Road. Just like Whiskey Bottom, the name Scaggsville was considered distasteful enough to warrant a name change by some in 2002, but did not have enough public support to proceed. In 1899, the post office dropped rural service to Scaggsville's other name, "Hells Corner".
Whiskey themes
The name "Whiskey Bottom Road" has inspired adjoining roads, schools, developments and businesses to adopt the whiskey theme or the entire name. The region is better known for producing a rye based Whiskey, " Maryland Rye", but that name has not been adopted in the neighborhoods. Nearby Bourbon street is based on another whiskey variation, Bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
, that has a corn base.
A partial list of local items that have adopted the theme:
Although most of the Whiskey Bottom Road neighborhoods consist of single family homes fronting the street, the various developments of Canterbury Riding, The Seasons Apartments and Whiskey Bottom Town homes, form a well defined neighborhood frequently called Whiskey Bottom or the "Whiskey Bottom Area".
Traffic control
The heavily traveled Baltimore-Washington corridors that Whiskey Bottom Road crosses have been the site of fatal accidents since automobiles were introduced. The introduction of traffic lights improved safety, but increasing volume of traffic has kept the intersections on many "Most Dangerous" lists.
The B&O Railroad crossing also was a frequent historical source of accidents with carts and pedestrians. A steep curving bridge was first built over the railroad tracks reducing train collisions, but occasionally creating its own hazardous driving conditions. In 1990, a long-standing home pottery business was removed to regrade a modern bridge over the railroad. Pedestrians still travel along the tracks despite the improvements, with occasional deaths in the same place.
In 1950 Whiskey Bottom Road was straightened, widened, and Macadamized
Macadam is a type of road construction, pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam around 1820, in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the o ...
. By the end of the 20th century, the amount of transient traffic as well as local traffic from developments reached the point where residents of the street facing homes could not safely turn into and out of their driveways. The occasional auto accidents where vehicles struck houses became commonplace. Traffic surveys concluded that the majority of accidents were from vehicles striking turning vehicles from behind. The traffic engineering departments of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties took two different approaches to the issue. In 1993 the Anne Arundel section adopted a road widening approach, taking eminent domain of properties and adding a shared center left-hand turn lane down the middle of the road. This was partially funded by the pending Russett development as a condition of zoning approval. Howard County planned to follow suit in 2002 but opted to explore traffic calming
Traffic calming uses physical design and other measures to improve safety for motorists, pedestrians and bicycle-friendly, cyclists. It has become a tool to combat speeding and other unsafe behaviours of drivers in the neighbourhoods. It aims ...
after 98% of roadside residents petitioned against widening the road. A series of narrow choking islands, and roundabout
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...
s were placed along the roadway with the intention of physically restricting the maximum speed of a vehicle to the limit. Transient drivers have objected to the obstacles. Howard County engineers defend their usefulness in controlling reckless driving without the need for increased traffic patrols.
Howard County Project J4229 plans to modify Whiskey Bottom Road from U.S. Route 1 to the Anne Arundel County Line in 2011 to prepare for future BRAC-related development traffic.
Development
The population of residents along the road has increased substantially. In 1939 the number of roadside houses totaled nine. By 1950, only 30 families lived along the road.
Adjacent developed properties include:
*Emerson Corporate Common
Est. 2008
*Kings Wood
*Kings Arms, Est. 1999 – Built on land grants of Sappington's Sweep, and 50 acres of Davis's Hills patented to Thomas Davis Sr. on 2 November 1737.
*Whiskey Bottom Apartments, Est. 1962
*Lilac Park, Est. 1996
*Northgate, 76 homes Est. 1981 by Ryan Home
*Fieldstone, by Polm Companies, LT
Est. 2009
*Koch Homes/Hogan Co's, 17-acre townhome community, Est. 2012
*Laurel Highlands
* Russett, Maryland, Russett, Est. 1992
In 1994, an effort to redevelop land occupied by the Laurel Racetrack and its adjacent properties would have placed a new Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
Stadium at the crossroads of Whiskey Bottom Road and Brock Bridge Road. Citizens and clergy launched a successful effort that killed the proposal. A lack of sufficient parking space was a significant factor in the decision.
Crime
Crime along Whiskey Bottom Road is on par with the region and times. Newsworthy crime incidents provide a historical context of this quiet rural road's transition to a dense suburban thoroughfare.
One of the first recorded incidents occurred on the road itself. On July 6, 1892, Rebecca Cager (Hensin) was found shot in the head by Dr. Hunt alongside "Whisky Bottom Road". The earliest mention of carjacking occurred in 1959 with the abduction of two separate women at gunpoint ending at Whiskey Bottom Road. The community of Bacontown was targeted for cross burning
In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan burned crosses on hillsides as a way to i ...
s in the 1950s followed by drug dealing issues in the 1980s. Lifelong residents Audrey Garnett and Lenore Carter worked with the community to drive out crime. Occasionally a body is still found along the road.
The busy intersections of Whiskey Bottom Road with US Route 1 and Maryland 198 have a decades long history of prostitution. Over the years police have made efforts to reduce the problem, but it persists to present times. One-day prostitution stings are held several times a year with 16–40 arrests a day.
In 2013, A string of arson attacks occurred up and down the wooded areas of the Patuxent river valley in Laurel. The Fieldstone development, and the historic Duvall Farm were burned from large brush fires.
In fiction
In the 2006 fiction book, Borrow Trouble by Mary Monroe
Mary Monroe is a ''New York Times'' bestselling African-American fiction author.["My Novels"](_blank)
Mary Monroe Officia ...
and Victor McGlothin, the character Franchetta wound up in a small tick on the map called "Whiskey Bottom, Maryland" at the age of 18 hawking boxes of popcorn.
In music
A local Blues Band in Portsmouth, Hampshire, United Kingdom took up the moniker "Whiskey Bottom Road".
The Hitman Blues Band published a song named ''Whiskey Bottom Road'' in 1999 on their debut album "Blooztown" about being down and out.
Notes
{{reflist
Roads in Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Roads in Howard County, Maryland
Laurel, Maryland