Arnold Preservation Council strives to save community land and landmarks

AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler

Brought to you by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi

and Lean On Dee Senior Home Care Services

Located on the Broadneck Peninsula between the Severn and Magothy Rivers, the once rural community of Arnold, Maryland was, and is, a major hub of Anne Arundel County commerce. As is the case with most of the peninsula, few traces of Arnold’s rich history remain due to unchecked residential and commercial development.

Once a thriving cattle farm situated on a rolling acreage owned by the Mueller family, the barn seen below still exists and as seen in the opening photograph, has been restored as part of the Anne Arundel Community College campus on College Parkway.

In an effort to preserve a portion of the diminishing amount of acreage in and around their community, a group of 100 concerned citizens formed the Arnold Preservation Council. We met with past president and current board member Elizabeth Rosborg to learn what we could about the organization’s efforts to preserve Arnold’s open lands and the culture, traditions and flavor derived from them.

When asked to describe her community, Elizabeth Rosborg is fond of quoting the words of the late Alberta Stonetta, author of the book “Arnold Maryland and Neighbors on the Broadneck.” 

In the preface of her fascinating history, Ms. Stornetta noted:

Arnold is not a town, but it has a post office. Arnold has no city hall or mayor, but it has a fire house. Arnold has no town center, but there is a pharmacy, restaurant, liquor store, doctors’ offices and a MacDonald’s.

A lifelong Arnold resident, Rosborg continues to be astonished that thousands of people pass through the community on Ritchie Highway every day and never even know they have been there. Aside from a shopping center on the site of what was once a B&A Railroad stop called Arnold Station, there is no distinguishing landmark. Because of that fact, Arnold has seen mostly residential, rather than commercial, development and managed to hold on to a bit of the rural feel it was known for.

We met Rosborg behind the shopping center on the B&A Trail covering railroad tracks at the spot originally known as Arnold Station. While seated trailside at a picnic table in front of the 75-acre property she grew up on, Rosborg filled us in on what the Arnold Preservation Council is trying to do.

“My grandparents bought the property behind us that I live on in 1954. When I was younger, we used to take the tractor up the long drive to the original post office located on this corner. That was great because the post office was also a candy store,” she said. “The office of the traveling doctor was located on the same corner.”

According to Rosborg, Arnold has never been incorporated as a town, complicating some of the efforts of the Arnold Preservation Council. It does have its own zip code, 21012. Within the last few years, the community has become part of the Greater Severna Park & Arnold Chamber of Commerce giving it some recognition.

The boundaries of Arnold within the zip code 21012 and are far ranging. The community is bordered by Severna Park to the northwest, Cape Saint Claire to the southeast, Annapolis to the southwest, and Lake Shore (in Pasadena) to the northeast. Arnold’s neighborhoods straddle Maryland Route 2 (Ritchie Highway) and College Parkway all the way to Bay Dale Drive.

Historically, there is evidence (at the community of Ulmsted and elsewhere) that the part of the Broadneck Peninsula that is now Arnold was hunting grounds for Susequenook and Algonquin Indians who found shelter along the rivers. The first area settlers were Puritans fleeing from religious persecution in Virginia who arrived in 1649 to establish a settlement they called Providence on land in or near Greenbury Point.

The earliest settlements that later comprised Arnold were located along the rivers and based on land grants. They included communities along the Severn River like Rugby Hall, Joyce, Winchester On The Severn and, along the Magothy, Shore Acres, Cape St. Claire and Podickory Point.

As is the case with neighboring Severna Park, few traces of Arnold’s interesting history remain but there are a handful to marvel over and, hopefully preserve. The home of John Arnold, the first Arnold to settle in the community in the early 1800’s still exists on Freshfields Lane off of Shore Acres Road.

John’s second son Thomas Hamilton Arnold, for whom Arnold is named, established a store on land inherited from his father he called The Depot. It no longer exists but was located approximately where Cheers & Spirits sits today in the shopping center. When the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line Railroad came through his property in 1887, Thomas became station master at Arnold Station and the U.S. Post Office was operated from his store. According to Rosborg, though a development is planned near Thomas’ gravesite, it is one of the historic sites being preserved with access off the Broadneck Trail.

John Arnold’s eldest son, Elijah Redmond Arnold built a home at the intersection of Old County Road and Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard with an attached smaller building he operated as Arnold’s Store. Records from the U.S. Postal Service indicate that a post office was established at the store in 1852. Renovated and modernized several times as a private home, the building still stands proud.

The 108-year-old Baltimore Annapolis Railroad Powerhouse building near the northern boundary of Arnold is now home to Ann Arundell Historical Society’s Shop at Jones Station.

Erected in 1907 as a midpoint electrical substation between Baltimore and Annapolis, it channeled 22,000 volts of current through three 300-kilowatt transformers to lower it to 6,600 volts and feed it directly to overhead lines. In 1933, the former powerhouse became an ice house for Miss Etta’s Store & Rustic Inn and later for the Wagon Wheels restaurant. Briefly the building housed the historic society’s headquarters before moving to the Benson Hammond House.

Nearby, the community of Rugby Hall still stands on its basic footprint. Within it is the beautiful property known as Wroxeter On Severn. The mansion was built in the early 1900’s by a gentleman named Edwin Pugh Baugh and named Uchllyn-on-Severn. A little over a decade after Baugh’s death, the mansion was operated as a prestigious restaurant named Rugby Hall from 1935 to 1941. During World War II, the home was used as a USO hall. Six years later, it became Wroxeter School, a private co-ed prep school. The date 1947, when it became a school, can still be seen on the gates to the estate.

Today a private residence, the estate is still quite beautiful though not as isolated as it once was.

According to Rosborg, land in Rugby Hall has been purchased a forthcoming development called Wroxeter Estates. However, there is a memorandum of agreement between the developer and the Rugby Hall Homeowner’s Association to limit the development and preserve what is known as “the farm”. The agreement is legal, binding and has been filed with the State of Maryland.

We couldn’t neglect to mention what many people consider an Arnold treasure. Fishpaws MarketPlace has been a traditional stopping point for locals and travelers. A tavern and gas station in the 1930’s, the store was owned by the Fishpaw family from the late ’40’s through the 60’s. It changed hands a couple times before being purchased by Kim Lawson and her parents, Brad and Chris, in 1982. In 2004, the Lawsons tackled a major reconstruction becoming a marketplace that features deli and gourmet foods, and a selection of beer, wines and spirits. 

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There is quite a bit of history associated with Arnold. But it seems the speed with which change has occurred since Elizabeth Rosborg’s childhood – when there were plenty of wide-open spaces to roam – has accelerated. Each step forward – from the coming of the railroads and building of the major highways to the completion of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge spans – drew more people to the Broadneck Peninsula.

The Arnold Preservation Council is doing its best to slow or moderate changes related to overdevelopment and population density. At present, they are fighting a proposed Chic fil A to be built in an area along Ritchie Highway that already sees very heavy traffic flow. Having observed “traffic stacking” at the Chic-fil-A in Severna Park, the community is very concerned.

In addition to being a board member of the council, Rosborg is part of the Anne Arundel County Citizens Advisory Committee planning for what the county will look like in 2040. She notes that residential development continues to be intense and is a difficult challenge. The committee strives to update the antiquated county code meant to control development and save 30,000 acres by 2030.

The members further plan to target future development to areas that have sufficient infrastructure to support it. Roads and transportation are an exceptionally difficult problem across the Broadneck Peninsula.

“Route I-97 was built to relieve Route 2 but it hasn’t,” Rosborg says. “Now, they are planning to expand Route 2 Northbound and Route 50 to Route 10.”

Unfortunately, new roadways seem to be a magnet for new development which is why the Arnold Preservation Council is doing as much as it can to preserve undeveloped properties. The members work in conjunction with organizations like the Greater Severna Park Council, the Broadneck Council of Communities and Growth Action Network.

“We keep the information flowing between us, share tools and help each other out,” Rosborg said. “However, preserving land is an endeavor that takes a lot of time and money which is currently in short supply in both the State of Maryland and Anne Arundel County.

Rosborg and her brothers are doing what they can to help. They are going to preserve the family’s 75-acre waterfront parcel of land through a conservancy.

For information on the activities of the Arnold Preservation Council, visit Arnold Preservation Council | Home.

Raindrops held off for most of Good Neighbors Group Earth Day Festival

Coming from another event beneath overcast skies on Saturday, I crossed my fingers and kept driving hoping it wouldn’t rain before I arrived at the Good Neighbors Group Earth Day event. I pulled into the parking lot at Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company just as a few rain drops began to fall. At first, the rain was light and attendees were still visiting the vendors’ booths.

GNG’s 2024 Earth Day Festival featured a plant sale for the first time. Providence Center Nurseries had a wonderful display of edible and ornamental plants and customers were still buying them in spite of the rain.

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Severna Park wedding and event florist Alex Waldorf from Romenta Plants was selling pretty and very popular bouquets of flowers. Once a TV producer who traveled the world for shows, Alex has a passion for flowers and gardening that was impossible to ignore. It’s clear that she loves what she’s doing.

Rain didn’t seem to be bothering Emily Brown’s bees at the Save The Bees display. The Save The Bees’ beehive never fails to draw the curious and Brown is good at informing the public about benefits of bees as pollinators and all about the process of extracting honey from the hive. Save The Bees’ honey, beeswax candles and other products sell well.

The critters at Millersville-based Echoes of Nature didn’t mind the rain either, in fact, the turtle rather liked it to say nothing of the snakes.

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As the rain grew a bit heavier, we noticed owner Nancy Greer and the team from Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi packing up and taking down their tent. (Actually, they were off to their third event of the day.)

Naturally, we stopped by the Good Neighbors Group tent where we found executive director Julie Shay talking with Wendy Pressian from Stiches Of Kindness. Both were smiling broadly, pleased that the Earth Day Festival was rain-free for most of the day and drew a nice crowd.

The Around The Park Again column is brought to you this week by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi at 1195 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. – For over two decades providing martial arts training that improves cardio-vascular health, strength and flexibility while reducing stress. Jing Ying is again bringing Tai Chi to the Severna Park Community Center.)

and by Lean On Dee Senior Home Care Services at 815 Ritchie Hwy., Suite 206 – When you need someone to lean on, Lean On Dee. Their experienced team of personal care management specialists and friendly companions provide high quality consistent care.