Troy, 7150 Route 1, Elkridge, Howard County, MD

Significance: Troy is an example of a vernacular stone house of somewhat refined quality typical of those built by prosperous Howard County farmers during the early to mid-nineteenth century. The stone work is noteworthy as an effort to use rubble to create decorative quoining and jack-arched window heads with keystones. The house was erected by Vincent bailey ca. 1820 on the former "dwelling plantation" of Colonel Thomas Dorsey. The Dorseys were among this region's founding families and its largest landholders; at one time they owned about one-third of the area that was to form Howard County from part of Anne Arundel County, in 1851. Once believed to be the oldest standing house in Howard County, and former Dorsey homestead, citizens lobbied to save Troy during the early 1970s, following the property's condemnation for a highway right-of-way.

Although this house was never inhabited by the Dorsey family, as once claimed, it is of interest as one of the oldest extant structures in an area that was the scene of the region's earliest major development. Located on the Patapsco River, Elk Ridge Landing (later the town of Elkridge), was an important port, established prior to the founding of Baltimore in 1729. The port facilitated the transport of tobacco grown on the nearby plantations of the Dorsey, Ridgely, and Carroll families, as well as the importation of goods. By extension, the nearby hamlet of Waterloo that lay adjacent to Troy also flourished. It sat at the crossroads of the Northern and Southern Post Road (Washington Turnpike) and the road between Annapolis and Frederick. The well-known Waterloo Inn catered to trade along the "rolling roads" from the port at Elk Ridge. Although now a sleepy section of the county, it was a hotbed of activity during the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. Troy was erected during a period of transition form tobacco cultivation to smaller scale grain farming. Grain production and milling eventually came to define Howard County as a distinctive and prosperous area, and it was set-off from Anne Arundel County. While the break-up of the old culture, as well as the coming of the B&O railroad, served to diminish the importance of this area, Troy is a reminder of its former significance.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N997
Survey number: HABS MD-1210
Building/structure dates: ca. 1820 Initial Construction