Crofton elected official, Crofton Delegate Tony McConkey has represented the community in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2003. Tony is the Ranking Member on the Maryland House Appropriations Committee and former Vice Chairman of the Anne Arundel County Delegation
Crofton News
Oct 12, 2014 – Crofton At 50 years: Still A Place To Call Home – Sun
Crofton Churches
Community United Methodist Church
First Baptist Church
The Mid Atlantic Community Church
Mount Carmel Church of God
Prince of Peace Presbyterian Church
St Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church
Crofton Community Organizations
Crofton Civic Association
Crofton Meadows Homeowners Association
Crofton Library
Library
Crofton Newspaper
Arundel Voice
Crofton Post Office
21114
Crofton Schools
Crofton Elementary School
Crofton Meadows Elementary
Crofton Middle School
Crofton Woods Elementary
Nantucket Elementary School
Crofton History
Early History: In 1632, King Charles I granted the Maryland territory to Cecil Calvert, the Second Lord of Baltimore. Except for a period of 1689 to 1715, the five successive Lord Baltimore attempted to rule their Maryland Providence as a feudal estate. At first, land was granted to allies and friend of the Calverts. Then, in 1683, the proprietor began to sell land for 200 pounds of tobacco per 100 acres. By 1776, land cost 5 pounds sterling per 100 acres.
The first European immigrants came to the Crofton area in the 1660’s and 1670’s. They found abundant wildlife, such as wolves, bobcats, deer, elk, bear, beaver, mink, squirrels, raccoons, a large variety of birds and fish and other sea life. They also found themselves amidst a “great forest unlike anything seen in the British Isles.” The first settlers cleared much of the forest land and depended almost entirely on the export of tobacco to England for their livelihood.
What is now Route 424 is considered the first true road in the Crofton area. It was originally known as Ridge Road and followed the ridge that separated the South River and the Patuxent River, linking up with the Londontown route in the south. For access to a newly developed road, the Jesuits at Whitemarsh Chapel built a bridge across the Patuxent. Their bridge. known as Priest’s Bridge, connected connected the land they owned on both sides of the Patuxent River. This bridge was for their own use. With the introduction of automobiles and with Crofton’s strategic position between Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis, the Crofton area became an important automobile junction. On July 16, 1927, Defense Highway Route 450), named because it linked the Naval Academy in Annapolis with Washington, D.C., was dedicated in a ceremony with officials from the District of Columbia, Maryland and the Navy.
On November 1, 1772, a meeting was held marking the beginning of a school in the Crofton area. The school, Anne Arundel Free School, was located in the community of Lavall, about four miles east of Crofton. Crofton now has three elementary schools and a middle school within its bounds. Crofton also has four nursery schools, six churches, and an 18 hole Championship Golf Course.
For further reading on the Crofton area, see “From Sotweed to Suburbia” by Dr. Joseph Brown, at the local library.
Development: (As published by the Crofton Chamber of Commerce) In 1963, after the Crawford Corporation accumulated over 1600 acres (6.5 km²) of land, it announced that it would build a new community called Crofton. This new town and planned community was founded at the same time as Reston, Virginia (April 17th, 1964) and Columbia, Maryland (1967). Crofton would be anchored by a community golfcourse, which later became the Crofton Country Club. Crofton was officially founded in the fall of 1964. The company considered picking an English name for the new town that “sounds well and implies that this is a pleasant place to live.” It ended up picking the name “Crofton,” named after a small township in Cumberland County, England. The English town was originally called Croft-town, derived from the word Croft, as the town standing upon the Crofts.
In 1969 the Anne Arundel County Council passed legislation to set up the Crofton Special Community Benefit District (CSCBD). It is comprised of the land roughly bounded by routes 3, 424, and 450. The CSCBD provides police protection in addition to that provided by the county, maintenance of public areas and recreational facilities, and other services the community may propose, subject to the County Council’s approval.
Crofton originally consisted of the area in the Crofton triangle, the area bounded by Routes 3 (Crain Highway) in the West, 424 (Davidsonville Road) in the North, and 450 (Defense Highway) in the South. The Little Patuxent River borders Crofton on its Southwest corner at the intersection of Route 3 & Route 450, providing a buffer between Anne Arundel and Prince Georges counties. This region near the Patuxent River is home to a small Air Force base that serves as a satellite communications center to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C. The Crofton area later expanded mostly North to encompass the area bounded by Reidel Road and Underwood Road. The Crofton ZIP code of 21114 — and thus the census area — does not encompass large portions of the area commonly known as Crofton, including Crofton Middle School and the region just North of Route 424 and Johns Hopkins Road. These areas include the communities of Crofton Meadows, Walden, Crofton Village, Chapman Farms, Huntwood, and the newly constructed Mt. Tabor Glen. A number of these communities are located in the Gambrills ZIP code of 21054.
Awards: In July 2007 Crofton was named by Money magazine as one of “100 Best Places to Live” in the United States and placed 72nd out of 100 cities on the list. It was selected for its relative anonymity while still boasting many major amenities, excellent schools, and sought after location. In 2011 it was again on the list in 82nd place.