Editing Catonsville, Maryland (section)

==History==
===Pre-colonial===
The area of present-day Catonsville was not inhabited by large numbers of Native Americans, rather serving as a hunting ground or a means of transit. However, Native American arrowheads found in the area signal a presence in small numbers. The [[Patapsco River]] itself, forming the southern boundary, bears a Native American name. They would have disappeared long before the first settlers encroached on the area, however.<ref name="keidel">{{Cite book |last=Keidel |first=George Charles |title=Early Catonsville and the Caton Family |publisher=J.H. Furst Company |year=1944 |pages=110–111 }}</ref>

The Native Americans had left behind a number of trails, some of which the earliest settlers adopted them for their own purposes. Rolling Road, for example, originated as a Native American trail, beginning from [[Elkridge Landing]], and traveling north through present-day Catonsville—the road was repurposed as a "rolling road" used to roll hogsheads of tobacco, hence its current name. Another trail was the Old Frederick Road, now known regionally as [[Johnnycake Road]], which began at a point along [[Gwynns Falls]], and traveling northwest, forming what is now Catonsville's northern boundary. Another potential Native American trail is Old Frederick Road, branching off from the aforementioned road southwest toward Frederick Road near Ellicott City.<ref name="keidel"/>

===Hunting Ridge===
The Catonsville region and the surrounding Patapsco River valley remained unsettled for much of Maryland's early history, as early communication depended on major bodies of water, and not by land. The region of present-day Catonsville served as hunting grounds for early explorers, and was known in the 17th century and early 18th century as '''Hunting Ridge''', as early hunters and trappers subsisted off game such as deer to feed and clothe themselves. However, it would be decades before the region underwent the settlement process.<ref name="keidel"/>

===Early settlement===
The earliest formal settlement of present-day Catonsville began in the second half of the 17th century. Incoming settlers at first followed streams by boat or trail, until embarking further uphill for uncultivated land, often using the aforementioned Native trails, as existing settlers took up most of the desirable land around major waterways. It is uncertain if Catonsville's earliest settlers came primarily via the Patapsco or Patuxent rivers. Settlers from the latter would have traversed Anne Arundel County, before fording the Patapsco River at Elkridge Landing. As the southern shore of the Patapsco River began to fill with settlers, others began to look northward, a movement which soon increased in rapidity through the latter decades of the century. By the year 1695, much of Hunting Ridge had been settled through land grants, and most of present-day Catonsville land comes from these original land grants.<ref name="keidel"/>

===Catonsville===
The history of present-day Catonsville follows its main artery, Frederick Road, which the town eventually developed around. In 1787, the Ellicott family built the [[Maryland Route 144#Ellicott City – Baltimore|Frederick Turnpike]] to transport goods from their flour mill, Ellicott Mills, to the Baltimore harbor. [[Charles Carroll of Carrollton|Charles Carroll]], a signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], owned the land around the then newly built road. He instructed his son-in-law, [[Richard Caton (merchant)|Richard Caton]], to develop the area along the road. Caton and his wife, Mary Carroll Caton, lived in [[Castle Thunder (house)|Castle Thunder]], constructed on the Frederick Turnpike in 1787.<ref name="castlethunder">{{Cite news |last=Boteler |first=Cody |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/ph-ca-historical-missing-20180724-story.html |title=Damaged historical marker in Catonsville is being repaired by State Highway Administration |date=July 26, 2018 |work=The Baltimore Sun |access-date=November 12, 2019}}</ref>[[File:Castle Thunder marker.png|thumb|Marker at the mythical location of Castle Thunder on Frederick Road]]

Caton gave his name to the community and called it "Catonville," although the name was changed to "Catonsville" in the 1830s. Businesses were built along the Frederick Turnpike for travelers traveling from Ellicott City to Baltimore. Catonsville served as a layover stop for travelers and the town increasingly grew and developed.<ref name="ushistory">{{Cite web |url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h2789.html |title=History of Catonsville, Maryland |website=U-s-history.com |access-date=2 July 2018}}</ref> The pleasant surroundings attracted wealthy Baltimore merchants who built large [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] and [[American colonial architecture|colonial]] summer homes to escape Baltimore's summer heat.<ref name="digital">{{Cite web |url=http://collections.digitalmaryland.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/bpca |title=Catonsville at the Turn of the 20th Century - Baltimore County Public Library |website=collections.digitalmaryland.org |access-date=November 13, 2019}}</ref>
Starting in 1862, horsecar services connected Catonsville to Baltimore. In 1884, the Catonsville Short Line railroad was built, providing 8 roundtrip trains to Baltimore daily. This allowed residents to commute to work in Baltimore. Commuter traffic exploded in the 1890s with the construction of [[electric trolley|electric streetcar]] lines and fancy housing developments. Catonsville had become one of the first commuter suburbs in the United States. Baltimore has tried to annex Catonsville, although their attempts have all been failures.<ref name=digital/><ref name=ushistory/> The last attempt was in 1918.

Homes of all sizes were constructed rapidly through the 1970s, when much of land around the Frederick Turnpike had been converted into housing. A new and modern business district opened along the newly built Baltimore National Pike, north from the Frederick Turnpike.

Catonsville was briefly made famous during the 1968 protest by the "[[Catonsville Nine]]", during which draft records were burned by Catholic anti-war activists.

In 2002, the Maryland legislature issued a proclamation declaring Catonsville to be "Music City, Maryland", because of the concentration of musical retail stores, venues and educational facilities in the area. [https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/catonsville/ph-ca-catonsville-cd-0608-20160607-story.html Life Sounds Great] is a series of compilation albums highlighting Catonsville musicians.

In 2007, [[Money (magazine)|''Money'']] magazine ranked Catonsville the 49th best place to live in the United States and the third best in Maryland and Virginia.