Odenton

History

In 1840, the steam-powered Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad (A&ER) was built across a sparsely settled farming community that would later become Odenton. At the beginning of the Civil War, Union soldiers guarded this railroad line because it was the only link between the North and the nation's capital. Rail traffic through Baltimore had been disrupted by southern sympathizers, so supplies, mail and soldiers flowed through Annapolis and west Anne Arundel County to Washington. The town of Odenton, nicknamed "The Town a Railroad Built" by Catherine L. O'Malley, was formed in 1868 with the construction of the Baltimore Potomac (B&P) Railroad connecting Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Where the B&P crossed the A&ER, a train station and telegraph office were constructed and named for Oden Bowie, president of the B&P and former governor of Maryland. Train service to the station began on July 2, 1872. The rail junction (today's MARC station) at Odenton Road, already a busy thoroughfare from Annapolis to Frederick, became the site of Odenton's first commercial center. The Watts and Murray general stores served railroad workers and farmers, and in 1871 a post office was established. A town grew near the junction, houses were built for railroad workers, a Methodist church was dedicated in 1891 and a grade school opened in 1892. Small villages developed around these various railroad lines, but none amounted to more than a cluster of shops and homes around a train station and post office. The 1878 Maryland Directory listed the following towns: Conaway, Odenton, Patuxent, Sappington, and Woodwardville. Odenton was the largest, with a population of 100, a church, a school and two stores. In nearby Woodwardville, where the B&P crossed the Little Patuxent River, A. G. Woodward was…

Geography

Odenton is located at (39.071276, −76.699756). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land. It is bordered by Gambrills to the east, Severn to the north, Fort Meade to the west, and Crofton to the south. It is located at the intersection of Maryland routes 170 and 175 and is bordered by Route 32 to the north. The zipcode is 21113.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• North County High
  High · Glen Burnie · 2,451 students · 17:1 ratio
• Old Mill High
  High · Millersville · 2,445 students · 17:1 ratio
• Meade High
  High · Ft Meade · 2,330 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Glen Burnie High
  High · Glen Burnie · 2,324 students · 17.5:1 ratio
• Annapolis High
  High · Annapolis · 2,127 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• Severna Park High
  High · Severna Park · 1,873 students · 19.3:1 ratio
• Crofton High School
  High · Gambrills · 1,805 students · 18.8:1 ratio
• Arundel High
  High · Gambrills · 1,617 students · 17.4:1 ratio