Harundale, Maryland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Harundale, Maryland
|
|
|---|---|
 Harundale, Maryland
Location in Maryland
Harundale, Maryland
Location in the United States
|
|
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Maryland |
| County |  Anne Arundel |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
Harundale (pronounced HAIR-un-DALE) is a community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, USA. It is an unincorporated community. This means it doesn't have its own local government like a city or town. Instead, it is managed by the county.
Building a New Community
After World War II, many new homes were needed in America. In 1947, a company called the Byrne Organization started building Harundale. They used a special method called prefabrication. This means they made parts of the houses in a factory first. Then, they brought the parts to the building site and put them together.
This project was huge! They built 1,200 homes on a 300-acre piece of land. Harundale became one of the biggest prefabricated housing areas in the United States. This construction helped start the rapid growth of suburbs in Anne Arundel County, which used to be mostly farmland.
Harundale Homes
The houses in Harundale were built quickly and efficiently. They had strong steel frames. The outside walls could be brick, shingle, or aluminum siding over redwood. Inside, the walls were made of plaster.
Most homes had three bedrooms. A few had two bedrooms. They were built in two main styles. All the houses were built on a concrete slab, which is a flat concrete foundation. They sold for about $6,900, which was a good price at the time.
Community Layout
The community was divided into two parts by Governor Ritchie Highway: the East and West sections. Most homes in the West section were rented, while homes in the East section were owned.
The houses used a special heating system called infloor radiant heat. This means warm water flowed through pipes under the floor, making the whole house cozy. Harundale even had its own water plant that used water from underground wells.
The streets in Harundale were named after places in Britain. The street names were different on the East and West sides, but they all followed an alphabetical order from north to south. Children in Harundale went to an elementary school that they shared with a nearby community called Glen Gardens. Because of this, the school was called "Glendale."
Shopping Fun
As Harundale grew, more than 5,000 people lived there. They needed places to shop! At first, there was a simple strip shopping center.
Then, in 1958, something very exciting opened: Harundale Mall. This mall was special because it was one of the first enclosed shopping malls east of the Mississippi River. An enclosed mall means all the stores are inside one big building, protected from the weather. This made shopping much more comfortable and fun!
