Harper's Choice | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Hobbit's Glen, a community within Harper's Choice. | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Maryland |
| City | Columbia |
| Established | 1967 [1] |
| Named for | Robert Goodloe Harper [2] |
Harper's Choice is one of the ten villages that comprise Columbia, Maryland, United States. It lies in the northwest part of Columbia and consists of the neighborhoods of Longfellow, Swansfield, and Hobbit's Glen and had a December 1998 population of 8,695.
Harper's Choice is named after Robert Goodloe Harper, a South Carolina representative who relocated to Baltimore to practice law. He was part of the Federalist mobs that stabbed, tarred and feathered British loyalists in Baltimore in June 1812. [3] Harper later served in the War of 1812, Maryland State Senate, and United States Senate. He lived on his Oakland estate in the Roland Park area, where he was buried, although his grave was later moved to Baltimore's Greenmount Cemetery.
The Longfellow community was named for the American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the street names are taken from his works. Hobbit's Glen was taken from the works of English author J. R. R. Tolkien, along with the street names. Swansfield's name was inspired by the etching The Swan by James McNeill Whistler, and the street names derive from the works of Winslow Homer. [2] [4]
The majority of Harper's Choice is built on the original Carroll slave plantation tract Doughoregan Manor. [5] The Harper family farm "Jericho" was built on a portion of the estate, and sold by the Harper family between 1962 and 1964 to the Rouse Company before the announcement of the Columbia project. Clarence Bassler sold 63 acres of his farm in 1963, with George Bassler selling 140 the next year, retaining land for the Harper's Choice Village Center. [6]
Home sites were sold by Howard Research and Development (Rouse) to larger homebuilders. Levitt & Sons, known for building Levittown, New York, bought land for over 600 units but halted construction in 1970 at 151 homes due to code violations. [7] In August 1971, Harper's Choice Village Center opened with housing above shops. [8] [9] In 1978, the village suffered from a string of arson attacks, including 26 in a two-day period from a local resident. [10] By the 1990s, the village center shops were in decline with little investment from the Rouse Company. [11] In 2004, MS-13 gang activity was reported in the neighborhood. [12]
In 2007, a study determined that the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area of the Patuxent River was "fair to poor biological conditions and only partial support of habitat conditions" from runoff related to development in the Hobbit's Glen area. The Middle Patuxent Environmental Foundation was formed to study the issue in 2015 with a $38,000 Watershed Assistance Grant Program. [13]
The Harper's Choice Village Center has a grocery store, banks, restaurants, and other retail establishments. [14] The community center, Kahler Hall, was named in 1971 for the William C. Kahler family, who sold a portion of their farm in November 1962 followed later by the remaining 280 acres. [2] The original name for the village center was "Joseph Square", named for John Joseph, chairperson of the first Harper's Choice Village Board. [4] In 1974, Peg Zabawa opened the landmark Mrs. Z's restaurant in an abandoned Wawa Inc. facility. The restaurant closed after burning in 1979. [15]
The Florence Bain Senior Center in the Swansfield neighborhood, opened in 1983 and was renovated in 2005. It is named for Florence Bain, whose son Henry worked on Rouse's original work group. She started the local AARP chapter and was the first chairperson of Howard County's Commission on Aging. [4] Winter Growth/Ruth Keeton House, offering an assisted living program, is located next to the Senior Center. It is named for the former council member, Ruth U. Keeton. [16]
The Athletic Club, one of Columbia's three athletic facilities, is located in Swansfield. [17] An 18-hole par 72 golf course is located in Hobbit's Glen, which also includes tennis courts and a pool. Originally named "Jericho", the Harper family requested Rouse not to use the name of their family farm. [18] [19] The Columbia SportsPark, an 18-hole miniature golf course, batting cages, and skate park is located in the Harper's Choice village center. [20] [21]
An extensive walking/biking trail connects the neighborhoods. [22]
Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 census, it is the second most populous community in Maryland after Baltimore. Columbia, located nearly halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area and is tracked by the United States Census Bureau as a census-designated place. Columbia proper consists only of territory governed by the Columbia Association, but larger areas are included under its name by the Census Bureau and the United States Postal Service. These include several other communities which predate Columbia, including Simpsonville, Atholton, and in the case of the Census, part of Clarksville.
James Wilson Rouse was an American businessman and founder of The Rouse Company. Rouse was a pioneering American real estate developer, urban planner, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthropist. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award, for his lifetime achievements.
Wilde Lake is a human-made drainage reservoir dug in 1966 and the name of the surrounding "village" of neighborhoods located in Columbia, Maryland, just north and west of Columbia Town Center. The village was the first part of Columbia's "New Town" to be built in the late 1960s, James W. Rouse and Frazar B. Wilde formally opened the neighborhood on June 21, 1967. The lake and village are named for Frazar B. Wilde, a past chairman of the board of Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and former employer of James Rouse. In 1963, the company agreed to fund the secret land purchases and, in return, acquired an equity participation. This arrangement was subsequently formalized by the creation of The Howard Research and Development Corporation, the joint venture established to develop Columbia.
The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company.
River Hill is the last and westernmost village to be developed in the town of Columbia, Maryland, United States, though some residents maintain addresses in Clarksville. The village is home to 6,520 residents in 2,096 housing units in 2014. The area was used as a game preserve by James Rouse to entertain clients and personal hunting during the buildout of the Columbia project. In 1976, County Executive Edward L. Cochran selected the 784-acre parcel owned by Howard Research and Development for an alternate location for a county landfill; a task force selected Alpha Ridge Landfill instead. Residential construction started in 1990. It is bounded by Maryland Route 108 and Maryland Route 32, and is centered on Trotter Road. The village is divided into two neighborhoods: Pheasant Ridge and Pointers Run, with about 6,500 residents.
Kings Contrivance is a village in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland, United States and is home to approximately 11,000 residents. It is Columbia's southernmost village, and was the eighth of Columbia's ten villages to be developed. Kings Contrivance consists of the neighborhoods of Macgill's Common, Huntington and Dickinson, and includes single-family homes, townhouses, apartments and a Village Center.
Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center is a 225-bed, not-for-profit health care provider located in Columbia, Maryland.
Oakland Mills is one of the 10 villages in Columbia, Maryland, United States. It is located immediately east of Town Center, across U.S. Route 29.
Hickory Ridge is one of the 10 villages in Columbia, Maryland, United States, located to the west of the Town Center with a 2014 population of 13,000 in 4,659 housing units. The village overlays the former postal community of Elioak. It was first occupied in 1974. Neighborhoods in the village are Hawthorn, Clary's Forest, and Clemens Crossing. The name Hickory Ridge is derived from the 1749 estate "Hickory Ridge" in nearby Highland, which later became the family home of the nephew of hospital and university founder Johns Hopkins.
The Columbia Association (CA) is a management organization for the financing, and maintenance of common-use facilities of the planned community of Columbia, Maryland.
Long Reach, one of ten villages composing Columbia, Maryland, United States, is found in the northeast part of Columbia along Maryland Route 108. Started in 1971, it is one of the oldest villages, and comprises four neighborhoods: Jeffers Hill, Kendall Ridge, Locust Park, and Phelps Luck. The village, with an approximate population of 15,600, is governed by five elected village board members through "Long Reach Community Association, Inc." The Village Office is located in Stonehouse, the community center, which opened in 1974.
Dorsey's Search is a parcel of land patented by John Dorsey of Hockley-in-the-hole (1645–1714) in Baltimore County. The 479-acre (194 ha) property adjacent to the north branch of the Patuxent river was surveyed by Richard Beard in December 1684, and granted to Dorsey in March 1696. The property lying between "Long Reach" and "Elk Ridge" was resurveyed in March 1723 to include 750 acres (300 ha). After several generations of inheritance, a series of legal disputes were held over the land by Rezin Hammond and Richard Ridgley in 1820. In 1827 the property exchanged hands to Robert Oliver, builder of Oakland Mill, who combined it with multiple properties totaling 2,300 acres (930 ha). George Gaither acquired the property in 1838. John Dorsey's grandson, "Patuxent" John Dorsey of "Dorsey's Search" built Dorsey Hall at the site.
Owen Brown is one of the ten villages in Columbia, Maryland, United States, established in 1972. Neighborhoods in the village include Dasher Green, Elkhorn and Hopewell. Owen Brown lies south and east of the town center.
Lake Elkhorn is a 37-acre (150,000 m2) reservoir located in the Owen Brown area of Columbia, Maryland. It is Columbia's third and largest lake. Its main features are a small dam and a park with a picnic pavilion and a two-mile (3 km) walking path around the lake. The path was built in 1982 and is surrounded by a park and townhouses. The lake, which was built in 1974, is named for the Elkhorn branch of the Little Patuxent River. In 1969, Spiro Agnew proclaimed the arrival of the first Columbia based scientific firm, Hittman Associates that relocated for favorable lease rates from Howard Research and Development. Hittman in turn was contracted by the EPA using Wilde Lake as an example to recommend reuse of storm water runoff from all of Columbia's reservoir systems for residential drinking water to save on development costs. The lake is overseen by the Columbia Association. The lake's location behind many townhouses, though considered an attractive feature to homeowners, has raised concern following the drowning of a small child on September 2, 2005. A drowning also occurred in 1980, and a maintenance worker drowned in March 1991. A movement was started soon after to erect a fence around playground next to the lake, but the community was split over this need, and a consultant concluded a fence was not necessary. The lake remained free of fatal incidents until October 8, 2013, when a body of a 32-year-old was found dead in the lake.
Lake Kittamaqundi is a man made 27-acre (110,000 m2) reservoir located in Columbia, Maryland in the vicinity of the Mall in Columbia as well as Merriweather Post Pavilion. It is also adjacent to offices and visible from US-29.
Dorsey Hall is a historic home in Columbia, Maryland, United States. It is a six-by-one-bay, 2+1⁄2-story stucco structure with a gable roof covered with asphalt shingles. It is a well-preserved and detailed example of the vernacular dwellings of the early 19th century in Howard County and associated with the Dorsey family, one of the "first families" of the county.
The Middle Patuxent Environmental Area (MPEA) is a 1,021-acre (4.13 km2) wildlife area in Clarksville, Maryland and operated by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks. It is located next to the River Hill village in the town of Columbia, Maryland, in the United States. The MPEA was created in 1996 for educational, research, and recreational purposes.
The Howard County Times is a weekly newspaper serving Howard County, Maryland, USA.
Arlington is a historic slave plantation located in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland, now part of the Fairway Hills Golf Course.
Ruth Urice Keeton was a member and chairperson of the Howard County Council in Maryland. In addition to this elected office, she was appointed to serve with multiple state committees including the Baltimore Regional Transportation Committee and Housing Task Force.
Municipalities and communities of Howard County, Maryland, United States | ||
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| CDPs |  | |
| Villages | ||
| Ghost town | ||
| Other communities |
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |