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Catonsville
From Stagecoaches to Horseless Carriages
The reign of stagecoaches and Conestoga Wagons on the Baltimore and Frederick-Town Turnpike only lasted seventy years. Omnibuses, attached to teams of four horses, began rolling out from Baltimore to Catonsville in 1862.
The Catonsville Short Line Railroad was next. Starting in 1884, a steam engine pulled passenger and freight cars through the countryside to a depot on Frederick Road.
In the 1890s, trolley cars hooked up to electric lines strung everywhere throughout Baltimore. For the next seven decades, the flashing sparks and swaying cars were a regular part of urban life, linking suburbs like Catonsville to the entire Baltimore area.
Meanwhile, a romance with the horseless carriage swept through the country. Today, the automobile has made Catonsville a distinct modern suburb. |