Savage

A rich vein of American industrial history lies in Savage. When the textile industry was in its heyday, Savage was an important manufacturing center, its mills harnessing the water power on the falls of the Little and Middle Patuxent Rivers.

The town was named for John Savage, a Philadelphia merchant with interest in a mill on the falls of the Patuxent. In 1822 he and his associates chartered the Savage Manufacturing Company, which made sails for the tall ships, among other cotton duck products.

The cotton milling industry started in Maryland in the 18th century and flourished in the 19th century. Cotton was shipped cheaply from Southern ports and hauled overland by mule and oxen teams to the mills before rail transportation served Savage. In 1835 the Washington branch of the B&O Railroad was completed, and Savage Station was established on the line about a mile southeast of the present mill. A spur of the B&O was laid to the Savage factory in 1887, and it was at this time that the famous Bollman Truss railroad bridge was moved to its present site from another location. Beloved by railroad buffs, the iron truss bridge is the only one of its type in the world, and, along with the mill, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Parts of the Savage Mill are said to date from about 1820, and historians have recorded that the mill once had an iron foundry which made many kinds of machinery, specializing in textile manufacturing. The operation of the mill was greatly expanded in 1880 with the installation of steam power.

A recently completed renovation program has established Savage Mill as a major permanent marketplace. With its new role as a festive showcase for quality arts, crafts, antiques, and speciality items, Savage Mill is more than a "shopping mill." It's a leisurely place to explore, enjoy, and to appreciate the history of a quiet mill town on the banks of the Little and Middle Patuxent Rivers.

Carroll Baldwin Hall, a lovely old Richardsonian Romanesque building, though privately owned, houses the Savage branch of the Howard County Library. It was built in the early 1920's as a memorial to Carroll Baldwin, former president of the manufacturing company. The Baldwins managed the company from 1859 to 1911.

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