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Moving - Sykesville, Maryland

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To inform you Sykesville, MD, here is a brief history you can read that will give you a glimpse into the past of the community.

A Brief History of Sykesville, Maryland

Today Sykesville is a bustling small town in southern Carroll County with a population of around 3,500. However, in 1825 the town was non-existent, merely a few scattered farms and houses. Thanks in large part to a young man named James Sykes; the town grew to become a hub on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.   

James Sykes was born in Yorkshire, England in 1791. James’ father, John Sykes, had traveled to Baltimore to dispose of a surplus of cloth goods, but liked the area so much he decided to move his family to the American city. James and his mother made the perilous journey across the Atlantic in 1801. The family prospered and eventually became naturalized citizens of the United States. James went so far as to serve in Samuel Moale’s company of the 1st Artillery Regiment as a sergeant against his former homeland during the War of 1812.

At the age of 34, James purchased several tracts of land from various business associates, totaling 1,000 acres in Baltimore and Anne Arundal counties. One parcel of land on the southern side of the Patapsco River contained a run down saw and gristmill. In the early 1830’s, Sykes replaced this mill with a new and more substantial structure along with homes for the mill workers.  He also erected a four story stone hotel, the largest masonry hotel in Maryland outside Baltimore City. The hotel contained 47 rooms to care for the recently constructed Baltimore and Ohio Railroad travelers.

In 1837, Sykes’ land north of the Patapsco River became part of the newly formed Carroll County. The area surrounding Sykes’ mills began to expand with retail businesses to cater to the mill workers and hotel patrons. 

In 1845, Sykes enlarged his mill, located next to present day Forsythe Road, and converted it into the Howard Cotton Factory, employing 200 workers. The cotton factory prospered, thanks to its location between the cotton fields of the south, the textile industry in the north, and easy rail access on the B&O. After a long battle, Howard County was formed in 1851, included in it was Sykes’ property south of the Patapsco.

Sykes urged the building of a “chapel of ease,” donating the land on which St. Barnabus Episcopal Church was built.  He also contributed liberally to its building fund, and served as one of the first vestrymen.

Sykes built his home of stone, containing 34 rooms on his Howard County in a quiet stand of pines, facing the Patapsco River. For the time, it was considered one of the showplaces of the area.

Sykes also served as the postmaster of Sykesville from 1840 to 1859, and received an annual compensation of $139.50 as the only federal employee in the area.

The Howard Cotton Factory closed in 1857 due to the nation’s monetary crisis. Sykes later moved from the area, but still came to visit. He sold his impressive Sykesville mansion to the Hugg family who later enlarged it. Most of the town was swept away by the flood of 1868, amongst the debris was the stone hotel Sykes had built, operated by John Grimes, the cotton factory, the store of Zimmerman & Schultz, and about a dozen homes.

James Sykes died May 30, 1881 at the age of 90. He is buried at Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore, along with his parents, sister and wife, Mary. The town that had sprung up around Sykes’ entrepreneurial businesses was constantly referred to as Sykes’. When the town became incorporated in 1904, officials named it after the man who had put it on the map.

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