Ridgley, MD

Ridgely, MD, population 1352, was conceived as a planned city in 1867 by a company from Philadelphia called the Maryland and Baltimore Land Association, during a land speculation boom that followed the Civil War. They funded a 200 acre survey and produced an elaborate map of the future city to attract settlers. Unfortunately, the infrastructure was not there to support their plans. The company went bankrupt within the year, and Ridgely was left with 4 buildings: a railroad station for the railroad which would not arrive for another year, a hotel, one house and one combination house/general store. That last building, the Ridgely house, is still standing and is shown above. The green house above is also one of the very early buildings of Ridgely. The town did start to grow once the railroad arrived, and in the second half of the 19th century little Ridgely became the “Strawberry Capital of the World,” home to the Armour Strawberry Preserving Plant. This was at the time the largest strawberry canning factory in the world and employed about1000 people during strawberry season. Strawberries are still a major crop of the region, and Ridgely has a strawberry festival every May.

Miles to date, 61.99