Hickory Ridge (Highland, Maryland) facts for kids

Hickory Ridge or White Hall is located in Highland in Howard County, Maryland, United States.

The Hickory Ridge slave plantation was built in 1749 for Greenberry Ridgeley on a 500-acre tract he inherited from his father Henry Ridgley, who also settled the lands and mill site that became Savage, Maryland. Originally called "White Hall", the building is a two-and-a-half-story structure made of Flemish brick bond.

Nicholas Ridgley inherited the property in 1800. Samuel and Martha Smith Hopkins acquired the property, naming it "White Hall" after the birthplace of his father Johns Hopkins. Samuel Hopkins became the Republican president of the Howard County Commissioners in 1865. Clark was a partner with William Thompson Walters at importing Percheron horses. It is the place where James A. Clark, Jr.'s mother Alda Hopkins was born and raised. The home was renamed to "Hickory Ridge" after a Hopkins family home in southern Anne Arundel county. A family graveyard is located on the property, which has since been subdivided for residential development. Joel Kline, the real estate investor known for the downfall of Spiro Agnew, held the trust on the 207.56-acre property in 1970. The current estate was reduced to just 22.71 acres. Richard Jenkins and wife have restored the property since 1972. In 2012, the former Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning director Joseph Rutter Jr. petitioned to subdivide an additional four lots from the Maryland Historical Trust property to reduce the acreage to 18.91 acres. The planning board approved the project without objection.