Woodbine

Woodbine straddles the southern county line between Carroll and Howard counties along route 94 (Woodbine Road) where it crosses over the Patapsco river. In the 1920's, Woodbine was a thriving little town, boasting a Ford dealership, a Kasier-Fraser dealership, two saloons, a post office, hotel, sewing factory, three grocery stores, a bank and two canning factories. The area was served by the B&O and local high school students could jump on the train to Mount Airy to attend classes. The canning factories put up the produce raised by the local farmers and travelers favored the Woodbine Hotel because of it central location. There was even a pretty good baseball team from the area.

 

Apparently, at some point, there was also a department store, as shown by this old postcard.

 

But over time, fires and floods did an enormous amount of damage to the Woodbine area and it has never completely recovered, though the restaurant on the southern side of the train tracks has always done a good business and the little shopping center at the top of the hill on the north is a real help to the locals. Most people in the area though, head over to Westminster or Eldersburg for their major shopping needs, because the selection in Woodbine just isn't there.

 

Woodbine, however, does still have some very beautiful older homes and spacious farms that are becoming harder to find as the area is developing quickly in the residential areas.