Dorsey's Search, Columbia, Maryland

Arlington is a historic slave plantation located in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland, now part of the Fairway Hills Golf Course. The estate occupied several original land patents including "Dorsey's Search, Talbot's Resolution Manor, and Long Reach". The Northeast corner where the Columbia turnpike and Route 108 met formed a small community. The general store built in 1874 by the Bloom family was known as "Blooms Corner" and the downstairs post office was named "Columbia". The store served hard cider with mail delivered by horseback.The Arlington house is a 1+1⁄2-story building with a later addition of a 3+1⁄2-story-tall granite stone building. It was built by slave labor using a circular scaffold that ringed the building for stones to be pushed or rolled into position A one-story wood slave quarters was attached by a walkway to the NorthWest. A wooden carriage house was built south of the manor.In 1928, the Allview Golf Course was founded by New York Railroader Ed "Gunboat" Smith. (Nicknamed after the popular boxer). The golf course was built, but plans for a luxury resort fell through as the depression set in. Well known for enjoying drink, Dorsey and Roger Williams became tenants during the depression. The property was later purchased by Walter A. Edgar who operated the course as well as thoroughbred horse farms in the area. C. Oliver Goldsmith, owner of Thunder Hill, later acquired Allview, and Woodlawn Farms, after marrying Jean Edgar and the passing of her parents. Upon sale of Woodlawn, Allview, and Thunder Hill, Goldsmith moved his horse breeding farm to Longwood Farm in Glenwood.The Allview property was key in expanding the Rouse Company land development project before public notification of zoning changes would raise the acquisition price. Only the Kingdon Gould (Kings Contrivance) and Guldelsky (Town Center) properties were higher priority. Howard Research and Development purchased a 98-year lease on the property. In 1977 the property was subdivided down to 177 acres and the historical survey recommended the property as a critical resource for state funded preservation. The house was converted in use to become the pro shop and restaurant named "Lucky Ned Peppers" for the Allview Golf course. In 1985 Allview was closed so that the course could be subdivided down to 162 acres from 206 for additional residential construction called Fairway Hills by the Rouse Company. In 1988, County Parks Board refused to accept 180 acres of the property for its use as a golf course, with the director saying it was downright ugly. Days later, the Columbia Association accepted an offer to transfer the golf course land from HRD. The Columbia association had issues with the cost of the $5.5 million proposal from Rouse that included contingent approval in order to restore the Arlington building. The course reopened in 1995 as the Fairway Hills golf course managed by the Columbia Association.

Centennial Lake is a man-made 54-acre (220,000 m2) reservoir, in a 325-acre (1.32 km2) park in Howard County, Maryland, near Columbia, Maryland and Clarksville, known as Centennial Park. It was created by damming the Centennial Branch of the Little Patuxent River. The lake and the park feature a dam, a wildlife area, a walking trail, boating, fishing, and other recreational activities. The park is owned by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks.The lake is used by the county and state for the conservation of various types of fish, such as trout and bass, with fishing restrictions implemented, though an overabundance has resulted in restrictions being lifted at times. Currently, normal non-tidal Maryland Department of Natural Resources fishing regulations apply.

Elkridge Farm, is a historic slave plantation located in Ellicott City in Howard County, Maryland, United States. In 1913, James Booker Clark built a mansion resembling the White House to house seven children. James Booker was the son of James Clark, Jr., a Confederate soldier who went into the livestock and banking trade after the war. Senator James A. Clark, Jr. was a nephew who traveled to the property regularly from Keewaydin Farm, down the unimproved Montgomery Road. The plantation house was destroyed by fire on 2 July 1920, with a cracked water reservoir, at a time when James Booker Clark was facing litigation against his family, Garnett Y Clark, for a failed coal mine project. A Target store in Long Gate shopping center now occupies the site.

Dorsey Hall is a historic home in Columbia, Maryland, United States. It is a six-by-one-bay, 2+1⁄2-story stucco structure with a gable roof covered with asphalt shingles. It is a well-preserved and detailed example of the vernacular dwellings of the early 19th century in Howard County and associated with the Dorsey family, one of the "first families" of the county.Dorsey Hall was built on Dorsey's Search, a parcel of land patented by Hon. John Dorsey of Hockley-in-the-hole (1645–1714) in Baltimore County (now Howard County), the brother of Edward Dorsey. The 479-acre (194 ha) property adjacent to the north branch of the Patuxent River was surveyed by Richard Beard in December 1684, and granted to Dorsey in March 1696. The surrounding residential neighborhood of Dorsey's Search was named after the original land grant. Judge Richard Ridgley owned the property which returned to the Dorsey family after his death and purchase by Caleb Dorsey. The farm operated with slave labor until the death of Caleb Dorsey in 1864. In 1963, owner Julius Mandel and Gudelsky Company attempted to rezone the site for high-rise apartments. The property was retitled to the Gudelsky-owned Contee Sand and Gravel Company. The 685-acre property was then purchased by The Rouse Company's shell corporation Columbia Industrial Development Corp. for redevelopment, which was halted in 1968 by residential opposition. The building underwent a renovation in 1979. The stone gristmill remains were still visible onsite at the time.The 5.4 acres (2.2 ha) of land surrounding Dorsey Hall that was acquired by The Rouse Company was resold to land developers Richard Talkin and Donald Reuwer for $785,000 in 2000. In July 2000, a $3.5 million, 32,000 square-foot office project broke ground. By 2001, the site of the estate was subdivided and reduced to 2 acres with a survey claiming no outbuildings were present unlike the neighboring Woodlawn Estate from the same period.Dorsey Hall now stands at the entrance to a business park (comprising mostly medical offices) at 5100 Dorsey Hall Drive, the architecture of which is compatible with the building. However, although it forms an imposing image, it has no signage or other identification and is not open to the public. The confusion is amplified by the adjacent business park at 5010 Dorsey Hall Drive, which bears a sign naming itself the "Dorsey Hall Business Park." Just north of Maryland Route 108, Dorsey Hall is technically at the southern edge of unincorporated Ellicott City, Maryland, rather than the northern edge of Columbia. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Fairfield Farm is a historic farm located near Ellicott City, now Columbia in Howard County, Maryland, United States. Fairfield farm was a 200 acre farm at the crossroads community of Columbia. The main house on Clarksville Pike (Route 108) was a three story Victorian with wraparound porches and a Mansard roof. In the 1920s it was the home to Mr. and Mrs. John Lawrence Clark (1853-1924) who also operated a supply store in Ellicott City, becoming the hub of social activity in Howard County. John Clark was on the board for the Ellicott City and Clarksville Turnpike Company, which operated and maintained a road that fronted Fairfield. Their son James Clark, born and married on the farm, would become a prominent Circuit Court Judge, and their grandson James Clark, Jr., became a prominent state senator.During World War II, the farm was managed by George and Corinne (Clark) Bayless. A tower was installed where the Columbia Presbyterian Church resides today and manned in four hour shifts to look for enemy aircraft. After the war, George Bayless agreed to manage the family farm for life in exchange for on half share of the estate, but rented it out to his brother in-law to farm. A day prior to the death of his mother, the terms were changed sparking a legal battle over percentage of ownership. In 1958, a court of appeals ordered the farm sold, delayed to 1961 in appeals ending Fairfield Farm's existence as a farm. The farm was subdivided by the Rouse Company, becoming a key property in the Running Brook subdivision.

Mt Hebron is a historic home located in Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland. Mount Hebron was built by Col. John Worthington Dorsey of the Revolutionary war in 1808 for his son Thomas Beale Dorsey. The house is a two-story stone structure. Dorsey operated a farm at the location with 49 slaves listed in the 1840 census. Mount Hebron High School, built in 1966, is named after the manor

The Oakland Mills Blacksmith House and Shop, also known as Felicity, is a historic property at 5471 Old Columbia Road in Oakland Mills, Maryland.

The Howard County Center of African American Culture is located in Columbia, Maryland. The museum host exhibitions and event about African American history.

Oakland or Oakland Manor is a Federal style stone manor house commissioned in 1810 by Charles Sterrett Ridgely in the Howard District of Anne Arundel County, Maryland (now Howard County). The lands that became Oakland Manor were patented by John Dorsey as "Dorsey's Adventure" in 1688 which was willed to his grandson Edward Dorsey. In 1785, Luther Martin purchased properties named "Dorsey's Adventure", "Dorsey's Inheritance", "Good for Little", "Chew's Vineyard", and "Adam the First" to make the 2300 acre "Luther Martin's Elkridge Farm".

White Hall is a historic home located at Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland, United States. It consists of three sections: the east wing, dating from the early 19th century, the center section, and the west wing. In 1890 the house was partially destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1900. Three outbuildings remain on the White Hall property: a small square frame workshop; a smokehouse-privy; and springhouse.White Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.Early owners were Caleb Dorsey and his brother Charles Worthington Dorsey (1787-1864), the first County commissioner of the Howard District of Anne Arundel County. Charles Worthington purchased the home in 1828 from Alfred and Ann Dashiel and N.G. Ridgley. with an original building onsite. He built additions to the home in 1857 hiring the architect Nathan G. Starkweather. The home was given to Dorsey's daughter and Maryland Governor Thomas Watkins Ligon (1810-1881). Charles Worthington died at the residence on 26 May 1864. Governor Ligon died at the estate in 1881. His wife, Mary Tolley Dorsey Ligon, died in 1899. The house was passed down throughout the family for well over one hundred years. Cared for and owned by the Ligon and Hains family (Ligon and Hains family wed July 4, 1930). In 1965, Col Thomas Watkins Ligon sold 350 acres of surrounding land, leaving 41.3 surrounding the property. The Hains family kept the estate until the late 1990s when it was sold to the first non-family member. In 1976 a 41.3 acre easement of the property was registered to the Maryland historical Trust.

Woodlawn, is a historic slave plantation located at Columbia, Howard County, Maryland. It is a two-story, stuccoed stone house built in 1840 with wood frame portions constructed about 1785. It was part of a 200-acre farm divided from larger parcels patented by the Dorsey family. The design reflects the transition between the Greek Revival and Italianate architecture styles. The home is associated with Henry Howard Owings, a prominent Howard County landowner and farmer, who also served as a judge of the Orphan's Court for Howard County. Owings purchased the property in 1858 and died at Woodlawn in 1869. The former tobacco farm produced corn, oats, hay, and pork. The majority of the property surrounding Woodland and its slave quarters were subdivided by 1966 and purchased by Howard Research and Development for the planned community development Columbia, Maryland, leaving only 5 acres surrounded by multiple lots intended for development of an Oakland Ridge industrial center and equestrian center. The summer kitchen, smokehouse, corn crib and stable built about 1830 have been replaced by a parking lot.In 2003, Preservation Howard County appealed to the Columbia Association to restore the adjacent stone slave quarters building predating the 1789 Woodlawn house. In 2004 the property surrounding the Woodlawn manor was rezoned from residential to dense office use. All of the 200-year-old trees surrounding the property were declared diseased by the developer-owner and cut down. In June 2006, Developer Ron Brasher submitted plans to build a 71,705sf office building adjacent to Woodlawn with a parking lot surrounding the building on all sides. The project was temporarily delayed due to lack of road access and requests for reduced setbacks. The planning and zoning director cited the developer's efforts to restore and lease the 5000sf mansion for office space or a "condo opportunity" as a way to preserve the manor recently rezoned by the department. In August 2007, the Columbia Association purchased the slave quarters property and approved another $125,000 (~$170,816 in 2022) for restoration with the construction of the office project pending.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Wilde Lake is a man-made drainage reservoir dug in 1966 and the name of the surrounding "village" of neighborhoods located in Columbia, Maryland, just north and west of Columbia Town Center. The village was the first part of Columbia's "New Town" to be built in the late 1960s, James W. Rouse and Frazar B. Wilde formally opened the neighborhood on June 21, 1967. The lake and village are named for Frazar B. Wilde, a past chairman of the board of Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and former employer of James Rouse. In 1963, the company agreed to fund the secret land purchases and, in return, acquired an equity participation. This arrangement was subsequently formalized by the creation of The Howard Research and Development Corporation, the joint venture established to develop Columbia.