A landmark (and unfortunate) decision for Carroll

by David Grand
July 20, 2004

Now, I don't much about our next door neighbor Frederick County. I do know that its landscape is much the same as Carroll's and is a bit bigger; that it too, has a largely agrarian economy and lots of cows; that it has ready access to interstate highways (70 and 270) that Carroll sorely lacks; that a devoted Unionist named Barbara Fritchie waved reputedly the Stars and Stripes from an upper window of her home as Stonewall Jackson's troops advanced through Frederick, and my thinking how they would've picked her off like a treed coon if she wasn't an old gray-haired lady; that that same city had the nerve to treat Francis Scott Key as if he were a native son by burying him there, when in reality he was born and lived in Taneytown, where a plaque is dedicated to him in the town square, and where his family home is still standing and occupied. (To me, they're just a shade above being body snatchers.)

And that county has been in the news a lot lately, with it being ranked 10th in the U.S. in job growth, swelling as it has to roughly 89,000 jobs as of last December when employment hardly budged in Carroll and across the country. It's population is also multiplying like fruit flies, jumping from 150,000 in the 1990 census to 195,000 in the one conducted in 2000, making it the fifth largest county in the state. And Frederick fudged the truth a little by claiming it was the state's second-largest city, which is correct if one is referring to the most-populated incorporated cities; however, it's ninth when compared to large communities which have distinct identities (a la Columbia, Silver Springs, Germantown, Bethesda) but with indistinct municipal boundaries.

You know, I've always wondered what prompted the state legislature to carve Carroll out of Baltimore and Frederick counties in 1837. I can only surmise that it was their way of honoring the memory of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, an American patriot, who was the last survivor of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the wealthiest man in America when he died in 1832 at the ripe old age of 95. That he never lived or stepped foot in what became Carroll County was obviously discounted in its decision. He did, however, along with two other land speculators who had the same name and were no doubt related-Dr. Charles Carroll and Charles Carroll the Barrister-have large land holdings within the county's present boundaries, with Charles of Carrollton holding tracts totaling 20,000 acres. But like the other two, he never took a look-see at his land.

And I also have often thought how much better off Carroll would be today, especially economically, if we had remained as the eastern half of Frederick. For combining the current populations of Frederick with Carroll's would make for one powerhouse delegation in the legislature, instead of sitting separately as they now do in the peanut gallery with their voices mostly stifled. It would also set the stage for switching to a charter form of government, which would allow it to join the other large, charter counties who call most of the shots in Annapolis.

But hypothetically, if we had remained conjoined like the original Siamese twins Chang and Eng, Frederick would probably consider this section of the county as an albatross around its neck and as an anchor on its economic expansion, what with our industrial/commercial percentage of 12.5 of the tax base being nearly half of what theirs is, and having been frozen so long at that level it'd take a blow torch to melt it.

So, as it now stands, it looks like all we can do in Carroll is to continue envying at how well our neighbor is prospering, and hoping that whoever is selected as the new Director of Economic Development will have an excellent marketing background, one who can pump life into that program, which as of now is about as dead as a dodo bird. And in advertising for that job, I'd like to think the commishes have learned an invaluable lesson the hard way and will specify that no ex-car salesmen need apply.