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==History== Prior to European colonization, the area that is now Sykesville was used as a hunting ground by Native Americans from the [[Susquehannock]] and [[Lenape]] nations. By the late 1800s, many [[European Americans|European]]s (predominantly from [[German Americans|Germany]] and [[Scottish Americans|Scotland]]) had settled in Sykesville in pursuit of farming and mining.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sykesvillemainstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/SykesvilleWalkingTour001.pdf |title=Small Town with a Big History |publisher=Downtown Sykesville Connection |access-date=March 19, 2019}}</ref> The land on which Sykesville sits started out as part of the {{convert|3000|acre|km2|adj=on}} Springfield Estate, a slave plantation owned by wealthy [[Baltimore]] shipbuilder [[William Patterson (Maryland businessman)|William Patterson]].<ref name="MHT">Maryland Historical Trust, Annapolis, MD. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110820212432/http://mdihp.net/dsp_county.cfm?search=county&criteria1=S&criteria2=CR&criteria3=&id=9221&viewer=true "Sykesville Historic District."] ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form.'' Filed August 14, 1985; accessed 2011-03-20.</ref> In 1803, Patterson's daughter [[Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte|Elizabeth]], married [[Napoléon Bonaparte]]'s younger brother [[Jérôme Bonaparte|Jérôme]], but when she arrived in Europe as Jérôme's bride, Napoléon refused to let Betsy Patterson Bonaparte set foot on land. Napoléon refused the marriage of the two, and would not let Elizabeth set foot on France's soil. He was determined that Jerome marry into royalty, and sent Betsy back home. Denied by Napoléon, she was never able to see her husband again, leaving her to raise their son alone in the United States. Upon the death of William in 1824, his son George Patterson inherited the estate. In 1825, George Patterson sold {{convert|1000|acre|km2 sqmi}} of Springfield Estate to his friend and business associate, [[James Sykes (Maryland)|James Sykes]].<ref>{{cite news|title=James Sykes, Frank Brown, and Sykesville|url=http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2004/200418/sykesville/news/215957-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522185448/http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2004/200418/sykesville/news/215957-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-05-22|newspaper=Gazette.net|publisher=Post-Newsweek Media|location=Gaithersburg, MD|date=April 29, 2004|access-date=March 20, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Seeking Freedom The History of the Underground Railroad in Howard County|page=81}}</ref> A tract of land on the [[Howard County, Maryland|Howard County]] side of the [[Patapsco River]] contained an old saw and grist mill. In 1830 Sykes replaced it with a newer mill and constructed a five-story stone hotel, to take care of railroad personnel and the tourist trade. In 1831 the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] (B&O) extended its [[Old Main Line Subdivision|main line]] to "[[Sykesville Station|Horse Train Stop]]", since Sykesville had yet to be named.<ref>Town of Sykesville. [http://www.sykesville.net/history.html "Sykesville History"]; accessed March 20, 2011.</ref> Other businesses moved into the area, including two general stores, new mills, churches and a post office. In 1832 the town managed to gain control of a barn across the Patapsco River, the dividing line between Carroll and Howard County, but the citizens were forced to return the barn under threat of federal troops. {{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} Much of the town was destroyed by a flood in 1868, ending a water rights dispute between the Sykesville mill and the Elba Furnace when both were damaged.<ref>{{cite book|title=Howard's Roads to the Past|author=Barbara Feaga|page=57}}</ref> The town was rebuilt on the Carroll County side of the river.<ref name="MHT" /> The town was incorporated in 1904. A weekly newspaper, the ''Sykesville Herald'', was founded in 1913 and published regularly until the 1980s.<ref name="MHT" />
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