Soldiers Delight
Encyclopedia
Owings Mills, Maryland
Owings Mills is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. The population was 20,193 at the 2000 census. Owings Mills is home to the northern terminus for the Baltimore Metro Subway and to Owings Mills Mall....
in western Baltimore County, Maryland
Baltimore County, Maryland
Baltimore County is a county located in the northern part of the US state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 805,029. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Towson. The name of the county was derived from the barony of the Proprietor of the Maryland...
, USA. The site is designated both a Maryland Wildland
Maryland Wildland
In 1971, the Maryland State Legislature passed the Wildlands Protection Act. Under this law, the legislature can protect certain publicly-owned areas from logging or other incursions, and thus preserve them for future generations...
(1,526 acres) and a Natural Environment Area
Natural Environment Area (Maryland)
A Natural Environment Area is a unit of the Maryland State Park Service of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. These public lands are generally or more in extent and are judged to constitute a “significant natural attraction or unique geological feature”...
(1,900 acres) and is part of the Maryland Wildlands Preservation System
Maryland Wildland
In 1971, the Maryland State Legislature passed the Wildlands Protection Act. Under this law, the legislature can protect certain publicly-owned areas from logging or other incursions, and thus preserve them for future generations...
. The site's protected status is due to the presence of serpentine soil
Serpentine soil
A serpentine soil is derived from ultramafic rocks, in particular serpentinite, a rock formed by the hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle....
and over 39 rare, threatened, or endangered plant species along with rare insects, rocks and minerals.
Amenities
7 miles (11.3 km) of hiking trails have been blazed at Soldier's Delight. While pets are permitted, equestrians and bicyclists are not, to protect the fragile terrain. A visitor center is open on Saturdays and irregularly during the rest of the week. Attractions there include environmental education programs and a scavenger hunt. Bowhunting is allowed from mid-November to the end of January with appropriate permits.History
The early colonialThirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
records of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
describe the area as a hunting ground for native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. In 1693, rangers in the King's service
King's Rangers
The King's Rangers was a British provincial military unit raised for service during the American Revolutionary War.After Colonel Robert Rogers left the Queen's Rangers he went to Nova Scotia where he raised this unit in 1777. Rogers was famous for his service during the French and Indian War...
from a nearby garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
patrolled the area calling the land Soldiers Delight. In the 18th century, King George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
made gifts of land grants upon Maryland's earliest settlers in what was then Soldiers Delight Hundred.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Soldiers Delight was the scene of minor short-term fights between the Maryland Volunteers of the Confederate Army and the regular troops of the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
. After the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, the great estates of the early families were reduced to many small farms and individual properties.
Geology
The area is underlaid by serpentiniteSerpentinite
Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle...
, a rock that contains very little quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
and aluminum-bearing minerals and consists mainly of serpentine. Weathered serpentinite is dissolved rock, transformed into thin, sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
- and clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
-poor soil which is easily eroded. This creates a land surface over serpentinites which is stony, unfertile and sparsely vegetated and is the reason that the term "serpentine barren" is used to describe these areas. A typical serpentine barren contains bear oak, Virginia pine
Virginia Pine
Pinus virginiana is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, but can grow taller under optimum conditions. The trunk can be...
, Eastern redcedar
Juniperus virginiana
Juniperus virginiana is a species of juniper native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Great Plains...
, grasses
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
and some unique and rare wildflowers.
Serpentine is valued as a decorative building stone
Dimension stone
Dimension stone is natural stone or rock that has been selected and fabricated to specific sizes or shapes. Color, texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are also normal requirements...
, road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
material, and for this area 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...
, a historic source of chromium
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...
ore. During the 19th century Soldiers Delight and the Bare Hills district of Baltimore County
Baltimore County, Maryland
Baltimore County is a county located in the northern part of the US state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 805,029. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Towson. The name of the county was derived from the barony of the Proprietor of the Maryland...
were the largest producers of chrome in the world. In Maryland, chromite
Chromite
Chromite is an iron chromium oxide: FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. Magnesium can substitute for iron in variable amounts as it forms a solid solution with magnesiochromite ; substitution of aluminium occurs leading to hercynite .-Occurrence:Chromite is found in...
, a significant accessory mineral in the serpentine, was mined until 1860. Several old mines
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and quarries
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
are still visible in these serpentine barrens.
See also
- Wildflowers of Soldiers DelightWildflowers of Soldiers DelightThe Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area, consists of about of land in Owings Mills, Maryland, USA. Much of the area of Soldiers Delight contains a serpentine barren that contains a number of rare and endangered species of plants....
- Woody Plants of Soldiers DelightWoody Plants of Soldiers DelightThe Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area, consists of about of land in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. Much of the area of the Soldiers Delight NEA contains a serpentine barren that contains a number of rare and endangered species of plants....
- Graminoids of Soldiers DelightGraminoids of Soldiers DelightThe Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area, consists of about of land in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. Much of the area of the Soldiers Delight NEA contains a serpentine barren that contains a number of rare and endangered species of plants....
- Ferns of Soldiers Delight
- Lichens of Soldiers DelightLichens of Soldiers DelightThe Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area- is located in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA...
- Isaac TysonIsaac TysonIsaac Tyson, Jr. was a Quaker businessman from Baltimore, Maryland, who held a virtual monopoly on world supplies of chromium minerals during the mid-19th century....