Scaggsville, Maryland

Scaggsville is an unincorporated community in Maryland. It is situated near the southeastern tip of Howard County, between Laurel and Fulton. The name Scaggsville appears on exits for Maryland Route 216 off Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 29. The town mainly consists of residences, with some commercial establishments. Scaggsville generally falls within zip code 20723, assigned to Laurel, though the town formerly had its own post office.

Residents of the Washington, DC area, as well as weather maps at sites like WeatherUnderground.com, sometimes refer to the area of Scaggsville adjacent to the Howard and Prince George's County border as "North Laurel", after the larger Maryland city that borders it to the south.

History

The town is named for the Scaggs family, who settled 700 acres (2.8 km²) of farmland in the 1830s and continue to live in the region. The historic path running through town was shown on maps as far back as 1795. This path is now named Lime Kiln Road, Scaggsville Road, and Whiskey Bottom Road. In the 19th century, Scaggsville was a stop on the trip from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. In 1941, the Maryland Gazetteer reported that the town consisted of 15 households. Today, it has grown to a suburban community made up of several neighborhoods.

Name change efforts

Some residents have advocated changing the name of Scaggsville to Rocky Gorge, since the community borders the Rocky Gorge Reservoir (also known as the T. Howard Duckett Reservoir). Efforts to change the name, however, have been unsuccessful.

Sources

• Scaggsville, Maryland (MD) Community Profile. HomeTownLocator.com. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
• Liz Steinberg. May 19, 2002. Quiet Scaggsville is expecting to get quieter. Baltimoresun.com. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.