Hereford Zone, Maryland

Last updated February 14, 2024

The Hereford Zone is an area in Northern Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, constituting 20% of all of the land in Baltimore County. It includes Hereford, Parkton, Monkton, Freeland, Sparks, White Hall, Jacksonville, Upperco, Manchester, Phoenix, and Glyndon.

It is by far the most sparsely populated area in Baltimore County. Strict zoning laws prohibit any planned communities from developing, with large single-family housing lots and agricultural activity predominating.

Because of its higher elevation and microclimate, the weather of The Hereford Zone is slightly different from that of the rest of the county.^[1] It is not unusual in the winter for schools in the surrounding areas to be 2 hours late, while the Hereford Zone is closed due to inclement weather.

Near the most northern part of the zone in the topmost strip where Baltimore County meets south central Pennsylvania, numerous mini tornadoes and wind storms zip through the fields unfettered by buildings or natural land changes to halt their progress. The air quality in the area is markedly different from that of the suburbs of Baltimore City to the south. Both the land elevation as it climbs from sea level to 966' at the Mason-Dixon Line near Stiltz, Pa.,on Middletown Rd ^[2] and the absence of smokestack manufacturing combine with the prevailing westerly winds to eliminate the yellow haze associated with low levels of pollution on even the most humid summer days.

Hereford High School, Parkton has the only agriscience program in the county along with Hereford Middle School. The school's mascot is the Bull, and the women's teams are called the "Lady Bulls".

In the Hereford Zone, Prettyboy Reservoir covers an area of 206.5 sq/km behind the scenic Prettyboy Dam on the Gunpowder River.

The Hereford High School varsity football team (The "Bulls") is well known throughout the state of Maryland. The Bulls have won 3 state titles in 1997, 2001, and 2002. Much of this success is attributed to coach Steve Turnbaugh, who turned around a formerly downtrodden Hereford football program.

Hereford High is also the host of the annual "Bull Run" Cross Country Invitational, run in the end of September, which is one of the largest East Coast cross country running events, attracting over 100 schools from surrounding states. The "grueling" course is noted for its hills, twists, turns, and a steep ravine known as "The Dip", all making for what has been called "The Toughest Three Miles in Cross-Country" by John Dye of DyeStat.^[3]^[4]

Hereford Theatre has won numerous statewide awards through CAPPIES, including Best Musical 2005 for their production of Pippin. They received the award at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, MD.

The Hereford Ladies Faire and Chamber Choir are also known as one of the best award-winning choirs in the county, consistently receiving 1's in adjudications year after year.

Related Research Articles

Garrett County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland completely within the Appalachian Mountains. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,806, making it the third-least populous county in Maryland. Its county seat is Oakland. The county was named for John Work Garrett (1820–1884), president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Created from Allegany County in 1872, it was the last county to be formed in the state.

Baltimore County is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Linthicum is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 10,324 at the 2010 census. It is located directly north of Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI).

Arbutus is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,483 at the 2010 census. The census area also contains the communities of Halethorpe and Relay, in which all three names were used during the 1960 census when the area had a population of 22,402.

Hunt Valley is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, near the site of the Maryland Hunt Cup Steeplechase. It lies just north of the city of Baltimore, along York Road, parallel to Interstate 83. The nearby Loch Raven Reservoir is an important landmark and drinking water resource. Its surrounding forested watershed is one of three reservoirs established for the City of Baltimore. Hunt Valley is located at a latitude of 39.5° North and longitude of 76.7° West. It is served by the Cockeysville post office, and is also a neighbor of Timonium. A satellite campus of the Community College of Baltimore County is located in Hunt Valley Town Centre.

Maryland Route 45 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as York Road, the state highway runs 30.06 miles (48.38 km) from U.S. Route 1 /US 40 Truck in Baltimore north to the Pennsylvania state line in Maryland Line, where the highway continues as State Route 3001. MD 45 is the primary highway between Downtown Baltimore and Towson, the county seat of Baltimore County. North of Interstate 695 (I-695), the state highway parallels I-83 and serves the suburban communities of Lutherville, Timonium, Cockeysville, and Hunt Valley. MD 45 also connects the northern Baltimore County communities of Hereford and Parkton. The state highway is maintained by the Maryland State Highway Administration in Baltimore County and by the Baltimore City Department of Transportation in the city, where the highway also follows Greenmount Avenue.

The Gunpowder River is a 6.8-mile-long (10.9 km) tidal inlet on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, United States. It is formed by the joining of two freshwater rivers, Gunpowder Falls and Little Gunpowder Falls.

Prettyboy Reservoir is a 1,500-acre (610 ha) reservoir in northern Baltimore County, Maryland, also known as the Hereford Zone. Even though the reservoir is in the county, the City of Baltimore owns the reservoir and the surrounding land of forested watershed. The reservoir is one of three reservoirs created to supply the Metropolitan Baltimore municipal water system for Baltimore City, Baltimore County and northern Anne Arundel County constructed by the Baltimore City Department of Public Works. Prettyboy Reservoir, along with Loch Raven Reservoir that is downstream of the Gunpowder Falls, provide about 61% of the drinking water for the Baltimore Metropolitan system. For this reason, the Prettyboy is considered a "source water" or drinking water watershed. The reservoir on average contains about 19 billion US gallons (72,000,000 m³) of water.

Darlington is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northeastern Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 409 at the 2010 census. The center of the community was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Darlington Historic District in 1987. Median household income is $66,563. The percentage of people in poverty is 5.3%.

West Friendship is a semi-rural unincorporated community in western Howard County, Maryland, United States. West Friendship is located at the junction of Interstate 70 and Maryland Route 32. Frederick Road is a main thoroughfare.

Octoraro Creek is a 22.1-mile-long (35.6 km) tributary of the Susquehanna River, joining it 9 miles (14 km) above the Susquehanna's mouth at Chesapeake Bay. The Octoraro rises as an East and West Branch in Pennsylvania. The East Branch and Octoraro Creek form the southern half of the border between Lancaster and Chester counties until the creek crosses the Mason-Dixon line. It winds through northwestern Cecil County, Maryland before joining the Susquehanna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hereford High School (Parkton, Maryland)</span> Public school in Maryland, United States

Hereford High School is a four-year public high school located in the rural northern Baltimore County town of Parkton, Maryland, United States, as part of the Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS). The secondary school was established in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parkton, Maryland</span> Unincorporated community in Maryland, United States

Parkton is an agrarian unincorporated area in the northern part of Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It borders southern York County, Pennsylvania, which forms part of the Mason–Dixon line. The area is mostly agricultural in nature with corn, soy beans and other industrial use crops being the major plants grown.

The Churchville Test Area is a United States Army facility of the Aberdeen Proving Ground, located northeast of Bel Air, Maryland.

The Jones Falls is a 17.9-mile-long (28.8 km) stream in Maryland. It is impounded to create Lake Roland before running through the city of Baltimore and finally emptying into the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

Gunpowder Falls State Park is a public recreation area comprising six non-contiguous areas covering 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) in northeastern Baltimore County and western Harford County, Maryland. The state park is primarily made up of the stream valleys of the Big and Little Gunpowder Falls and the Gunpowder River; its natural features range from tidal marshes to rugged interior slopes. The park has over 120 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing plus facilities for picnicking, tubing, canoeing and kayaking, tide-water fishing and crabbing, fly fishing, and hunting, among other activities. It is managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Maryland Route 137 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Mount Carmel Road, the state highway runs 8.50 miles (13.68 km) from Gunpowder Road near Hampstead east to MD 45 at Hereford in northern Baltimore County. MD 137 was built in the early 1920s.

The Hagerstown–Martinsburg Metropolitan Area, officially designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as Hagerstown–Martinsburg, Maryland–West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), constitutes the primary cities of Hagerstown, Maryland; Martinsburg, West Virginia; and surrounding areas in three counties: Washington County, Maryland; Berkeley County, West Virginia; and Morgan County, West Virginia. The metro area lies mainly within the rich, fertile Cumberland and Shenandoah valleys, and is approximately a 60–90 minute drive from Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Hagerstown is approximately 75 miles (121 km) driving distance from all three cities. The population of the metropolitan area as of 2008 is 263,753.

Hereford is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. Hereford most commonly refers to the stores and residences around Exit 27, off Interstate 83, including Graul's Market, an M&T Bank branch, and an Exxon gas station. Mount Carmel Road and York Road act as vital corridors into, out of, and within the Hereford community. Hereford is best known for its acclaimed high school and unique microclimate which differs significantly from other Baltimore County communities. Addresses in Hereford are listed as being in Parkton, which also encompasses the northern Baltimore County community of Maryland Line.

Bull Run Invitational is a Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) sanctioned high school cross country invitational. The race is hosted by Hereford High School on their rural campus in northern Baltimore County. The invitational has become one of the east coast's largest and most popular cross country races, drawing over 125 schools annually and approximately 4500 runners. Features 13 races throughout the day. On the local level, the course has always been known for its challenging nature and slower than average times, but recent national media attention sealed the course's status as one of the top three most challenging cross country courses in the nation.

References

↑ "Weather or not, Hereford is in its own zone". North County News. 2007-12-26. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
↑ "Highest and Lowest Elevations in Maryland's Counties". Maryland Geological Survey.
↑ Flynn, Sean P. "Far From All Downhill; 'The Toughest Three Miles in Cross-Country'", The Washington Post, November 12, 2005. Accessed December 27, 2007.
↑ Kent, Milton. "Bull Run Invitational showcase running out of elite competition", Baltimore Sun, September 28, 2007. Accessed December 27, 2007. "The Bull Run has become one of the biggest races on the East Coast cross country calendar each year, attracting schools from four surrounding states and the District of Columbia.... This year, more than 100 schools, 2,600 runners, spectators and well-wishers are expected to pack Hereford with cars lined along York Road for miles, as the course, which twists and turns along steep hills and woods, is as much a part of the event as the competition itself."

39°35′20″N76°39′50″W / 39.58889°N 76.66389°W / 39.58889; -76.66389

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[ncn2007-1] "Weather or not, Hereford is in its own zone". North County News. 2007-12-26. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2007-12-27.

[2] "Highest and Lowest Elevations in Maryland's Counties". Maryland Geological Survey.

[3] Flynn, Sean P. "Far From All Downhill; 'The Toughest Three Miles in Cross-Country'", The Washington Post, November 12, 2005. Accessed December 27, 2007.

[4] Kent, Milton. "Bull Run Invitational showcase running out of elite competition", Baltimore Sun, September 28, 2007. Accessed December 27, 2007. "The Bull Run has become one of the biggest races on the East Coast cross country calendar each year, attracting schools from four surrounding states and the District of Columbia.... This year, more than 100 schools, 2,600 runners, spectators and well-wishers are expected to pack Hereford with cars lined along York Road for miles, as the course, which twists and turns along steep hills and woods, is as much a part of the event as the competition itself."

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]