Downtown Sykesville

Ideas of the Progressive Era influenced the development of Main Street Sykesville. Beginning in the 1890s, business and residential architect J.H. Fowble engineered structures that reflected popular styles of craftsman and Richardsonian roamanesque architecture on Main Street and throughout the local neighborhoods. 

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(Fowble's former residence: 7514 Norwood (presently The Inn at Norwood)) (Town House)

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Prominent citizen, Wade H.D. Warfield, whose name is emblazoned upon several buildings in the Sykesville area, controlled large portions of Main Street's business including the original bank, a lumber yard, and numerous homes and farms.

 

(photo of wade warfield)

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While today's Main Street still celebrates community and xxxxx, the early tenants of Main Street created a business district containing centers of trade, places of factory work and entertainment. 

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The B&O Railways line, present in town since 1831, made Sykesville a tourist attraction. Even after the line's passenger service ended in 1949, downtown community involvement flourished for decades. 

(former town event flyers? photos?)

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The re-routing of traffic to the newly created Maryland Route 32 from Main Street made worse the economic depression of the 1970s. However, post-WWII years in Sykesville were a time when all of your needs could be met along Main Street. 

 

(32 construction)

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By the 1970s, the Town Council considered reverting the town charter. However, residents such as Lloyd Helt, Thelma Wimmer and later Jonathan Herman worked to improve and preserve the town.

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(photo of herman, thelma and helt)

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Since its establishment as a Nationally Registered Historic District...........................