Woodstock, Maryland

Woodstock, Maryland
Woodstock Location in Maryland
Coordinates:
Country	United States of America
State	Maryland
County	Howard
Population (2010)
• Total	6,986
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	21163
Area code	410, 443, 667
GNIS	591607

Woodstock is an affluent unincorporated community which is a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. The original village of Woodstock is located in Howard County, and also includes portions of Baltimore County and Carroll County.

History

Thomas Browne, the "Patuxent Ranger" explored westward through Anne Arundel county through Clarksville and settled in the area in 1702. The Mt. Pleasant Log home was built by the Brown family in the 18th century. A century later in the civil war, confederate general Bradley Tyler Johnson used Mt. Pleasant to store weapons, dispatch messages and hide from Union troops.

Woodstock was founded as a mining town based around its Granite quarries. The B&O railroad ran though the area with a station built in 1835 for granite deliveries. The postal community was named "Davis Tavern" when its first post office opened in 1836. Caleb Davis and Peter Gorman were early B&O contractors. Gorman married Elizabeth Browne of the Brown family, occupied a large farm "Good Fellowship", sold Granite for buildings and built a large granite house in town. The granite house was the birthplace of Arthur Pue Gorman, which was torn down to build a bridge across the Patapsco in the early 1980s. In 1869, the Jesuit Woodstock College opened on the Baltimore side of the Patapsco River. St, Alphonsus Rodriguez church was built on a section of the institute in 1887–1968 when it was lost to fire. In 1889, telegraph service was extended to town.

Demographics

As of 2010, Woodstock's population is 6,986. The population growth rate is 31.51%.

Housing market

According to Sperling's BestPlaces, Woodstock's cost of living is 49.9% higher than the U.S. average, and the median cost per home in Woodstock is $422,290 with a growth appreciation rate of -7.19%.

Schools

Public schools in the area spend $6,343 per student, $665 more than the U.S. median. There is an average of 14.9 students per teacher.

Relationship with Granite

The area in Baltimore County along the Patapsco opposite the Howard County portion of Woodstock is referred to as both Granite and Woodstock, resulting in ambiguities and confusion:

• The post office for the 21163 ZIP code is in Woodstock, Howard County, but the ZIP code covers, and the post office serves, residents of both counties. The post office also serves the 21104 ZIP code, which is similarly split between Howard and Carroll Counties.
• Per the official USPS address database, mail destined for ZIP code 21163 can use either "Woodstock" or "Granite" as the city: while "Woodstock" is the default, "Granite" is acceptable.
• Woodstock College was in Baltimore County.
• The Chinese Bible Church of Howard County is in Granite, Baltimore County.
• A Baltimore Sun article about the funeral for a Montgomery County Police Department officer that took place at a church and cemetery on the Baltimore County side listed the location as "Woodstock", while—several months later—an article in the real estate section of the same paper about housing on the Baltimore County side was titled "Granite".
• The name of a road that runs through both Woodstock and Granite is "Woodstock Road" only on the Howard County side; it loses this name as it enters Baltimore County, where it becomes "Old Court Road".
• Telephone lines for areas in Baltimore County that are close to the river have Ellicott City exchanges (750) from the Ellicott City central office.

People

• Paul Blair lived in the Woodstock area at the time of his death on December 26, 2013
• Henry G. Davis (November 16, 1823 – March 11, 1916) was a self-made millionaire born in Woodstock and U.S. Senator (1871–1883) from West Virginia
• William Henry Gorman was born in Woodstock in 1843. He founded the Citizen's Bank of Laurel, Maryland and the Maryland and City Hotels in Annapolis, Maryland.
• Evan Oglesby (ex-Ravens player) lives near Woodstock.