Woodbine is an unincorporated rural community in

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

and Carroll counties,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States. It is part of the

Baltimore metropolitan area The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It is part of the larger ...

. It is located southeast of

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

, west of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, north of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and east of Mount Airy. The community was named for the woodbine plant, which grew in the community in fields and along riverbanks.

Background

Woodbine is located at the juncture of the

Patapsco River The Patapsco River ( ) mainstem is a river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal portion forms the harbor for the city of Baltimore. With its South Branch, the Patapsco forms the northern border of Howar ...

, the

B&O Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie ...

, and the road that runs north from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

to Winfield on Liberty Road (

Maryland Route 26 Maryland Route 26 (MD 26) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Liberty Road, the state highway runs from U.S. Route 15 in Maryland, U.S. Route 15 (US 15) in Frederick, Maryland, Frederick east to Ma ...

) and through to

Westminster, Maryland Westminster is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The city's population was 19,960 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Westminster is an outlying community in the Baltimore metropolitan area, whic ...

. The original road from Baltimore to

runs just north of Lisbon, following a slight ridge line westward halfway to Woodbine (the road was finally paved in the 1960s). This was the original trail that existed before the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

was built (the road that runs through Lisbon).

History

During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Confederate cavalry crossed the

at Woodbine and at Hoods Mill, just a few miles east on the river and the

, scouting a

U.S. army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

that was on its way to the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...

. The main road at that time ran just west of the existing road and up the west side of a creek that runs south and that joins with the Patapsco River just 50 yards west of the existing road. That original road, now partly unused, runs north 100 yards from the river and then Eastward (Gum Road) to join up with the existing road today. There was no bridge across the Patapsco River at that time, just a ford in the river. The town straddles the Patapsco River to the north (into Carroll County) and south (into Howard County). A new concrete bridge was constructed between 1916 and 1917. In the 1920s and 1930s the town had a large canning factory on the Carroll County side of the river. There was another small canning factory, from the turn of the century, run by water power west of Woodbine at the foot of New Port Hill. Remains of the factory still exist, and the sluice where water (from Gillis Falls Run) came to run the machinery is still visible in the wooded area below New Port Hill leading north to the dam, no longer existing. Just north, 300 yards up the hill and west of the existing road (SR 94) on John Pickett Road, was a wormseed distillery, where wormseed oil was steam-distilled. This small factory was later converted into the Woodbine Canning Factory, canning

tomatoes The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originated from and was d ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

, and

peas Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum ...

. The factory burned in June 1933 and was converted to a paper mill in the 1950s.

Notable people

Larry E. Haines Larry Eugene Haines (April 11, 1938 – January 13, 2024) was an American politician who was a Republican member of the Maryland Senate from 1991 to 2011. Background Larry Haines was elected to the Maryland Senate in 1991 to represent district ...

, Maryland state senator * Alex Horwath, soccer player *

Albin Owings Kuhn Albin Owings Kuhn (January 31, 1916 – March 24, 2010) was a prominent figure in the University of Maryland system during the mid-twentieth century. He became the first chancellor of Baltimore Campuses in 1965, and is most notable for being the f ...

, first chancellor and chief planner of the UMBC campus * Albert Levitt, jurist * Kyle Snyder,

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medalist

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

, three-time NCAA wrestling champion at

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

Tony Massenburg Tony Arnel Massenburg (born July 31, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. Massenburg was on the active roster of 12 different teams, which was an NBA record shared with Joe Smith, Jim Jackson, Chucky Brown, and Ish Smit ...

* Alyssa Parker, field hockey player * David H. Berger, General, USMC, 38th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, (July 11, 2019 – July 10, 2023) * Scott Foster (basketball), gambler

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Howard County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Carroll County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland

Background

History

Notable people

See also

References