Scaggsville is an unincorporated community in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. It is situated near the southeastern tip of Howard County

Howard County, Maryland

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*62.2% White*17.5% Black*0.3% Native American*14.4% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.6% Two or more races*2.0% Other races*5.8% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

, between Laurel

Laurel, Maryland

Laurel is a city in northern Prince George's County, Anne Arundel County, and Howard County, Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Incorporated in 1870, the city maintains a historic district including its Main Street...

 and Fulton

Fulton, Maryland

Fulton is an unincorporated community located at the southern tip of Howard County, Maryland.-History:Prior to 1805 Fulton was known as Queen Caroline Parish, then later as Hammond Directions. In 1878, it was referred to as "Water's Store," a name taken from postmaster Richard Waters.Henry Iager...

. The name Scaggsville appears on exits for Maryland Route 216

Maryland Route 216

Maryland Route 216 is a Maryland between Laurel and Highland, primarily within Howard County. The name for Route 216 is Scaggsville Road.-7th Street, Laurel:...

 off Interstate 95

Interstate 95 in Maryland

Interstate 95 in Maryland is a major highway that runs diagonally from northeast to southwest, from Maryland's border with Delaware, to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, briefly entering the District of Columbia before reaching Virginia...

 and U.S. Route 29

U.S. Route 29 in Maryland

U.S. Route 29 is a north–south United States highway that runs for from the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, to Pensacola, Florida. In the U.S. state of Maryland, US 29 is a major highway that emerges from Washington D.C. and runs north into eastern Montgomery County, stretching...

. The town mainly consists of residences, with some commercial establishments. Scaggsville generally falls within zip code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 20723, assigned to Laurel, though the town formerly had its own post office.

Residents of the Washington, DC area, as well as weather maps at sites like WeatherUnderground.com, sometimes refer to the area of Scaggsville adjacent to the Howard and Prince George's County border as "North Laurel", after the larger Maryland city that borders it to the south.

History

The town is named for the Scaggs family, who settled 700 acres (2.8 km²) of farmland in the 1830s and continue to live in the region. The historic path running through town was shown on maps as far back as 1795. This path is now named Lime Kiln Road, Scaggsville Road, and Whiskey Bottom Road

Whiskey Bottom Road

Whiskey Bottom Road is a historic road north of Laurel, Maryland that traverses Anne Arundel and Howard Counties.-Route description:Whiskey Bottom Road runs through North Laurel, Maryland starting at Maryland Route 198 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The road continues westward across U.S...

. In the 19th century, Scaggsville was a stop on the trip from Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, to Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

. In 1941, the Maryland Gazetteer reported that the town consisted of 15 households. Today, it has grown to a suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

an community made up of several neighborhoods.

Name change efforts

Some residents have advocated changing the name of Scaggsville to Rocky Gorge, since the community borders the Rocky Gorge Reservoir

Rocky Gorge Reservoir

Rocky Gorge Reservoir is located on the Patuxent River in Howard County, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, Maryland near the town of Burtonsville. The reservoir was created in 1952 by the construction of the T. Howard Duckett Dam on the Patuxent. The dam is visible from Interstate 95...

 (also known as the T. Howard Duckett Reservoir). Efforts to change the name, however, have been unsuccessful.

Sources

• Scaggsville, Maryland (MD) Community Profile. HomeTownLocator.com. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
• Liz Steinberg. May 19, 2002. Quiet Scaggsville is expecting to get quieter. Baltimoresun.com. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.