Baltimore

Westview Park...

  • is a housing development about 1 to 3 miles west of Baltimore's western boundary.
  • consists of about 1850 homes: about 1700 detached homes, about 100 townhomes, and about 50 apartments.
  • was built in stages from 1955 through 1964.
  • first half, east of the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) was begun in 1955 and finished in 1960.
  • second half, west of the Beltway, was begun in 1962 and finished in 1964.  The Crosby Road bridge over the Beltway connects the two sections and was completed in 1961.
  • two houses were added in the mid-1980s; eight more were added in the late 1990s.
  • was the largest housing development in Maryland as of 1964.
  • has a community association: Westview Park Improvement and Civic Association (WPICA).
  • has townhomes on its southernmost street: Southridge Road.
  • has apartments in its southwestern part.
  • has single-family homes in most of the rest of the development.
  • is flat to moderately hilly, with an elevation range of 400 feet exactly (6300 block of Craigmont Road) to 512 feet (south border at Rolling Road).

History of Westview Park

  • The site that is now Westview Park may have been inhabited by members of the Piscataway tribe of Native Americans prior to 1780.
  • The land became owned by Charles Carroll of Carrollton in the late 1700s and apparently stayed in his family through the early 1900s.
  • The land that is now Westview Park east of what is now the Baltimore Beltway, and a portion of the land that is now Westview Park west of the Beltway (and including some land through which the Beltway now runs), was bought by the Rowe family in the early 1900s and used for a working dairy farm.  The large stone house that the Rowes lived in was built in 1907 and it still stands on a hill on Craigmont Road.  Rowe Lane in Westview Park is named for them.
  • The Rowes sold their land--except for one acre on which their house sat--to Joseph Meyerhoff, who then developed Westview Park on the land.  Mr. Meyerhoff also developed thousands of other homes, shopping centers, and other buildings in Baltimore and vicinity.
  • A portion of the land was appropriated by Baltimore County for a new school, Johnnycake Elementary School, which opened for students in September 1956.
  • There used to be a pond (or really small lake) on the site of what is now Lakemont Court.  Some people ice skated on this pond in winter.  A stream flowed from the pond, down through the dip in what is now Crosby Road between Johnnycake and Craigmont Roads, then to what is now the intersection of Craigmont Road and Rowe Lane where it flowed across what is now Craigmont Road and into the still-existing Dead Run  The pond was filled in with dirt and the water flow from the spring that fed the stream was rerouted though undergound storm pipes to Dead Run.
  • Construction of detached homes began in 1955 in the south section, nearest Ingleside Avenue, then working north until it reached Johnnycake Road at Craigmont Road in 1960.  The townhomes on Ingleside Avenue and Southridge Road were built about 1960.  After the Crosby Road bridge was completed in 1961, construction of the second half of Westview Park began, progressing along Crosby Road  and its side streets) until reaching Rolling Road in 1964. A few homes in this area, including one at Rolling Road and Gilston Park Road, and several on Dillon Heights Avenue, are much older than the Meyerhoff-built houses but are still considered part of Westview Park. 
  • The first four model homes (sample homes) for Westview Park are located on the south side of Johnnycake Road just west of Ingleside Avenue.  Eight model homes for the second half of Westview Park are actually in the older, first half: on the west side of Craigmont Road just north of Crosby Road, and on the north side of Crosby Road just east of Craigmont Road.