Perry Hall, Maryland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Perry Hall is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 28,705 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 The Perry Hall Improvement Association
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 External links

[edit] History

In 1774, wealthy planter Harry Dorsey Gough (see Gough-Calthorpe family) purchased an 1,000 acre (4 km²) estate called "the Adventure" north of present-day Belair Road. Gough renamed the estate "Perry Hall," after his family's home in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, and completed construction of the Perry Hall Mansion, which still stands in the northern part of the community. Harry Dorsey Gough, then, could be thought of as the founder of Perry Hall.

The Gough family dominated the life of the community until after the Civil War. The Gough plantation was among the largest in Baltimore County, and Harry Dorsey Gough was an early leader in the Maryland General Assembly, as well as a founder of the Methodist Church. It was at Perry Hall Mansion that plans for the American Methodist Episcopal Church were developed by Gough, his Birmingham neighbour Francis Asbury, and other religious leaders. The Gough family later donated land for the construction of the Camp Chapel church and a community school.

The Civil War accelerated the end of plantation life in the United States. The Perry Hall estate was sold in 1875 to Eli Slifer of Philadelphia, who divided the property into farms of various sizes and sold the lots to immigrant families, many of whom were from Germany. That is how the tiny village came to be known as "Germantown." These farmers raised "stoop crops" like celery and carrots, and as the Twentieth Century opened, many families opened nurseries and flower shops.

Germantown, which rested near the intersection of Chapel and Belair Roads, was a small but self-sufficient farming village. The 1902 telephone directory listed only twenty-six numbers, including five saloon owners, seven storekeepers, four farmers, the justice of the peace, and undertaker, and the community schoolteacher. Mail delivery was done on horseback, and it was the only real way for one village to communicate with another. The community had its share of taverns and inns, and at the end of a long day in the fields, a trip to the local saloon was a nightly tradition for many. Local patrons were often joined by travelers on their way along Belair Road, a major turnpike from the city to the country.

With German and Irish immigration, new Catholic and Lutheran churches were built in the community. For most families, entertainment meant gathering together on the front porches of the farmhouses, where families would hold dances and young men would romance the girls from down the street. In time, the name "Germantown" disappeared from local maps, and the plantation moniker "Perry Hall" came to distinguish the growing village.

The period after the Second World War transformed Perry Hall from rural hamlet into a suburban community. Recognizing the inevitable surge in development, the Perry Hall Improvement Association was established in 1945 to lobby for the necessary infrastructure to support the community.

Between 1980 and 1990, Perry Hall's population almost doubled, rising from 13,455 to 22,723 residents. The US Census Bureau estimates that over six thousand housing units were constructed over a ten-year period, most in the vast area behind Seven Courts and Gunpowder Elementary School.

Source: Baltimore County Public Library

[edit] The Perry Hall Improvement Association

The Perry Hall Improvement Association (PHIA) is the oldest and largest civic organization in northeastern Baltimore County, Maryland. Since Perry Hall is not incorporated, the PHIA is the dominant communitywide coalition in the area.

An early version of the PHIA operated during the Second World War, when Perry Hall residents organized a Health Committee to help veterans purchase wheelchairs, crutches, and other equipment. After the war ended, many of these leaders decided to create a permanent organization. The first meeting of the Perry Hall Improvement Association was held on July 31, 1945.

After the Second World War, there was a wave of growth in northeastern Baltimore County. The PHIA defeated plans for a cemetery on the Soth Farm, a racetrack on Forge Road, and a drive-in movie theater near St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church. The PHIA also lobbied for lights along Joppa, Forge, and Cross Roads and Schroeder and Bauer Avenues. The PHIA also pressured Baltimore County officials to fund road improvements and build new schools. Its greatest accomplishment came on September 8, 1963, when Baltimore County Executive Spiro Agnew and other officials dedicated the new Perry Hall library on Belair Road.

The PHIA worked on civic activities as well, starting a Community Christmas Party in 1946 and a Halloween Parade in 1949. In 1976, the PHIA helped form a Bicentennial Committee that hosted events at the old Perry Hall School. By the 1970s and 1980s, however, leaders spent much of their time dealing with development. The most symbolic loss for the community was the development of Lassahn Field, long used for soccer games, carnivals, and Easter egg hunts.

By the early 1990s, the community celebrated the opening of the Seven Oaks Senior Center and two new elementary schools. In 1994, the PHIA provided critical local support for the Honeygo Plan, a blueprint for developing Perry Hall’s rural northeast.

With the Honeygo Plan adopted and much of the community now built-out, the PHIA focused in the late 1990s on some of the civic activities that had been abandoned years earlier. In 2000, Perry Hall celebrated its 225th birthday. The PHIA worked with other groups to restart the Halloween Parade and begin a summer concert series, the centerpiece of which was a performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Also that year, the PHIA worked with other groups and elected officials to preserve the Perry Hall Mansion. In November of 2001, Baltimore County leaders announced plans to purchase the property.

Between 1996 and 2007, the PHIA membership grew from 200 members to more than 2,000. The PHIA is currently governed by an 11-member Board of Directors that includes four officers and seven at-large directors. The current President of the PHIA is David Marks, who also served between 1999 and 2003. Other officers and board members include: Debra Beaty, Vice-President; Jesse House, Treasurer; Nina Yeskis, Secretary; and Diane Brazil, Joe Glorioso, Elmer Klein, Ann Palrang, Jeffrey Smith, Brenda Ware, and Howard Willie, Directors.

[edit] Geography

Perry Hall is located at 39°24′5″N, 76°28′44″W (39.401385, -76.478962)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 18.1 km² (7.0 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 28,705 people, 11,328 households, and 7,884 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,585.6/km² (4,104.8/mi²). There were 11,578 housing units at an average density of 639.5/km² (1,655.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 88.79% White, 4.53% African American, 0.11% Native American, 5.08% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 1.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.50% of the population.

There were 11,328 households out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $57,033, and the median income for a family was $65,632. Males had a median income of $42,371 versus $33,834 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $26,361. About 2.3% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.5% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.