The History of the Wayside Inn

Warm hospitality - the Living Room, Wayside Inn

I grew up down the street from the Wayside Inn when it was owned by our family friends, the Hartkopfs. It was always the house with the candles in the window. We passed the house every time we went to our swim club and we always looked to see if the candles were lit. We were never disappointed because there they were in every window, always lit.

The Wayside Inn Dining Room

The following comes directly from the Wayside Inn's website:

The Wayside Inn is located near an original portion of the Old Columbia Turnpike, which was established in the early 18th Century. This turnpike was intended to serve as a major link from the mill of Ellicott's Lower Mills, later renamed Ellicott City, south to Georgetown in Washington, DC.

An original milepost still stands about 200 yards south of the Inn with the inscription "2M to E.C". The book, "The Diary of George Cooke: Twenty-three Years On a Maryland Plantation, 1826-1849", bespeaks the importance of this turnpike on the daily lives of the area plantation owners.

Local Historians indicate that the Wayside Inn was one of several Inns in what was at first Ann Arundel County, and later Howard County. While it is frustrating that no records have been found to verify this assertion, its proximity to the old turnpike makes it a likely candidate. A further indication would be the name, Wayside Inn. Nowhere are there records of that name as a commercial establishment, yet the name has been passed down through many generations of owners, leading one to believe that this was once an established Inn. Local lore has it that both General George Washington and John Quincy Adams were guests at the Inn and that could certainly have been the case, especially for Washington. We know for fact he was in the general vicinity. His name is on a ledger at a pub in nearby Elkridge.

Read More at the Wayside Inn

Reprinted with gracious permission of David Balderson, owner, Wayside Inn.