Odenton Heritage Society

Sunday, August 7, 2022 will be Photo Copying Day at the Odenton Heritage Society's monthly open house.  Bring your photographs of Odenton -- its railroads, buildings, places, and people -- for a quick scan and immediate return.  Digital copies help the Society's image collection grow.  The OHS Museum, which shows more than 150 years of Odenton history, also will be open, with no admission charge.  Hours will be from 1 pm to 4 pm.  The OHS Historical Center is in the restored 1912 Masonic Hall, located at 1367 Odenton Road.

On Sunday, September 4, the Odenton Heritage Society will celebrate the placing of the 1912 Old Masonic Hall on the list of the National Register of Historic Places. The Society is also proud to celebrate 20 years in its restored headquarters and Historical Center. Reflecting the building’s current education mission and its significance as a centerpiece of the Odenton Historic District, the Society will give tours of the building and offer the first five visitors a CD copy of the 2016 book Odenton Historic District: Architectural Survey and Evaluation, which...

Odenton Day is a joint effort by the Odenton Heritage Society, Inc., Odenton Volunteer Fire Company, the Greater Odenton Improvement Association and the Central Maryland Chamber of Commerce.  The Odenton Heritage Society will be represented at both the museum and the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company firehouse.  There will be free guided tours by shuttle bus that start at 10:00 a.m.  from the OVFC Firehouse located at 1425 Annapolis Road, to the OHS Historical Center, at 1367 Odenton Road and back.   The tour will offer the opportunity to learn why Odenton...

Three jewels of the Odenton Historic District, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will share the spotlight in a photo display at the Odenton Heritage Society open house on Sunday, November 6, 2022.   Longtime community centers in the west Anne Arundel railroad town, the 1917 Citizens State Bank, 1918 Epiphany Chapel and Church House, and 1912 Old Masonic Hall also reflect Odenton's importance during World War I, when soldiers at nearby Camp Meade brought new demands to the home front. An educational museum scavenger hunt will...

There will be refreshments, music, tree lighting, and Santa and Mrs. Santa’s arrival on the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company’s fire truck.  Parents are encouraged to bring their children to visit with Santa and to meet your neighbors.

The Odenton Heritage Society will be celebrating the holiday season on Sunday, December 4, 2022 at our Christmas Open House Bazaar and Bake Sale.  Please join us as we continue to celebrate Odenton’s 150th Anniversary. There is much to learn and see about Odenton as you tour our museum.   On sale will be a variety of handmade items, baked goods, and Odenton history related items.  There will also be a “Silent Auction”.  The OHS Historical Center Museum presents more than 150 years of local history through objects, photographs, and Audio-Visual...

On Sunday, January 8, 2023 the Odenton Heritage Society will open a display spotlighting the failed Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad.  A plan to build a railroad through Anne Arundel County to southern Calvert County captivated industrialists from the 1860s to the 1920s. The railroad was never completed, but organizers repeatedly tried to finance and build a line that would funnel freight to a new port near Solomons.  Enjoy photographs of still-existing right-of-way that workers graded near Severn Run and Gambrills in the 1880s.  Learn about audacious plans to rival...

On Sunday, February 5, the Odenton Heritage Society will celebrate Black History Month with a display about Sappington School, which welcomed Black grade school pupils during segregation from the early 1920s to the late 1940s.  Local support made possible Odenton’s first educational facility for African Americans.  When Anne Arundel County constructed a large, replacement school for white children in 1921, Macedonia Methodist Church, an African American congregation, obtained a small, surplus building at Camp Meade and moved it to the church grounds so that Black children could receive a comparable...

In a display opening Sunday, March 5, the Odenton Heritage Society will explore Odenton’s role in making train travel safer since the 1880s.  “Railroad Accidents and Safety” examines local train wrecks and responses by railroad companies, from dual tracks to switch towers at junctions, modern train signals, and preventive track maintenance.  The contributions of Odenton railroad workers, including tower operators and African American track inspectors and track maintenance workers, will be presented.  The Odenton Heritage Society Museum shows how Odenton connected Baltimore, Washington, and Annapolis with train service and how...

On Sunday, May 7, the Odenton Heritage Society will open a special display, "Famous Farewells: VIP Funeral Trains through Odenton."  Funeral trains for American dignitaries were not new in the 20th century, but the Pennsylvania Railroad (today's Amtrak and MARC Penn Line) made this form of remembrance an institution.  Along the tracks, ordinary citizens paid their respects to Presidents William McKinley, Warren Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, General Douglas MacArthur, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy as the trains rolled by.  The openness, public access, and outpouring of grief made the...