Odenton Shopping Center: What's under the asphalt?

This article was originally written for the Heritage Times, the news journal of the Odenton Heritage Society, Summer 2014, Number 39. Thought it fit well in this blog as it reflects how businesses and development affect a community and it’s history. For the purposes of this post updates have been made where needed to reflect the current status of the shopping center. Hope you enjoy the article.

Under the Asphalt

The arrowhead shaped piece of land that runs from the Odenton traffic circle up to what was once called Stoney Hill (the location of the present day Wheels Skate Center) and between Annapolis and Odenton Roads has always been a popular area for travelers and trade. The future site of the Odenton Shopping Center (OSC) has more history to it than just a vacant lot developed for modern commercial use. From the beginning, when Native American trails crossed in Odenton, the future site of the Odenton Shopping Center has been an area for trade and commerce that continues.

What we know as Annapolis and Odenton Roads began as Native American trails, which are documented in late 18^thcentury maps of Maryland. These trails were used by Native Americans travelling north and south and later by settlers traveling between Annapolis and Frederick. 

A possible, undocumented, reason for why the early trails intersected where they did [near the traffic circle] could be due to the location of a once bountiful spring. The eastern portion of the land on which the OSC now sits once contained a fresh water spring known as Picture Spring. (Approximately the site of the Goodwill store) The spring was a resting area for Native Americans traveling through the Odenton area. In her 1978 publication, Odenton, A Town The Railroad Built, Catherine O’Malley described the site as follows. 

“…,”Picture Spring” was located in Odenton, near the present day A&P, on Odenton Road, in a clump of sycamore and willow trees on which the Indians had carved pictures, totem pole style. It was a resting place for the Indians who came from the North and were on their way to make war with the Southern Maryland Piscataways and the Eastern Shore Maryland Nanticokes. The spring was a strong source of crystal clear water, which flowed into the Severn River. But alas, it was buried when the Odenton Shopping Center area was developed. A very large pile of stone chips, broken arrowheads and Indian artifacts located near the spring is also gone, being buried beneath approximately 20 feet of fill dirt.”

The 2003 Odenton Small Area Plan, Community History, paralleled Mrs. O’Malley’s research stating that the site was popular with Native American inhabitants who were in the area between 8000 B.C. to 1400 A.D. and used Picture Spring for stone tool manufacturing and campsites. As the area became populated with settlers, the Native Americans moved on or died from being exposed to disease. The site of the future OSC remained wooded. 

The train comes to town

Odenton continued to grow and became even more populated as the result of the opening of the Annapolis and Elkridge Railroad in 1837 and the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad crossing the Annapolis & Elkridge RR in 1868; 1868 being the year that the town of Odenton was officially founded. The Annapolis & Elkridge Railroad paralleled Annapolis Road on its way through Odenton and onto Gambrills. The closest stop to the future OSC was Sappington Station, a short walk from Picture Spring. Prior research conducted by the Odenton Heritage Society shows that Civil War Union Soldiers camped not far from Picture Spring near the intersection of Sappington Station Road and Burns Crossing Road, which would have been on the north side of the A&E RR Sappington Station.

Throughout the expansion of population in Odenton the future site of the OSC remained wooded and Picture Spring an active area for drawing water. Oral histories collected by the Odenton Heritage Society revealed that in the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s there was a small enclave of homes near Picture Spring. Families used the spring for water and maintained the access to the spring by protecting it from environmental damage. Residents of Odenton from the 1950’s remember the site to be a wooded area with a natural spring. Locals would draw water and kids would play in the spring in the hot summer days.

Opening Day 

Several families owned the sections of land that would need to be purchased to build the OSC. David Eutsler purchased the wooded lots in the late 1950’s and later partnered with Stanley Yaffe to assemble the lots necessary to build the OSC. There is no definitive documentation of the dates the OSC opened and tenants filled the space. From what has been learned thus far, the Odenton Shopping Center opened in 1958.

The original shopping center spanned from the liquor store to the barbershop. The point where the addition was added can be seen outside of the barbershop.The curb line is straight up to the barbershop and then angles out to continue up the hill. The angle in the curb is where the original OSC stopped. The addition created an angle in the design. At this point, the stores had recessed entryways some twenty feet from the curb and the awning covering the sidewalk was wider. After the angle, the stores entranceways became closer to the curb as they are today. 

Point of expansion to the Odenton Shopping Center

An original tenant was Beacon’s Pharmacy, owned by Stanley Yaffe. Beacon Pharmacy, was documented in a Capital Gazette newspaper article as, “the centerpiece of the Odenton Shopping Center since each opened in 1958”. Beacon’s was sold to CVS in 1995. 

Another of the original tenants, which remains to this day, is the Odenton Barbers, Tanning, and Fitness. The original owner, Bill Burroughs, opened a shop in Fort Meade in 1963. When the OSC was developed and opened, Mr. Burroughs moved the shop to the OSC in 1965 and has been there ever since. Oral histories recall a sandlot ball field at the western end of the property where barber customers awaiting service and local residents would play pickup baseball games. 

Newspaper ads in 1967 announced the arrival of W.T. Grants department store, which originally occupied the space where the Giant grocery store is located. In the mid 1970’s, the A&P grocery store moved from its original anchor spot at the east end of the OSC, to a larger separate facility that still sits perpendicular to the shopping center (Goodwill building). The original out building was connected to the OSC by an awning-covered walkway. The first major renovation took place in 1991, modernizing the façade.

An ad in the 1971 Arundel High School Panorama listed these stores as members of the OSC.*

Arnold’s Shoes

Beacon Pharmacy

Citizen’s National Bank

Gordon’s Clothier’s

Launette Inc.

Odenton Barbers

Odenton Liquors

Princess Shops  

Salon on the Green

Schumann’s Bakery

Western Auto

* A&P grocery and W.T. Grants were part of the OSC at this time. It is not known why those businesses were not included in the ad.

The Odenton Shopping Center has always served its community well. Providing access to a centrally located business environment to serve basic consumer needs with a variety of locally owned as well as national chain stores.

Please read other posts regarding Odenton business history.

Building History July 2016

Building History, Part 2 July 2016

Please help preserve the history of your local communities. As time passes and development increases we are losing the treasures of our past. This includes our oral history. Your community elders are a wealth of information. Take the time to ask and listen. 

To learn more about Odenton and become involved in local history please visit the Odenton Heritage Society.

Weigh anchor!

2013

2015

Walking along the crowded sidewalk was actually a welcomed experience. Maybe it was the warm December day two days before Christmas, maybe the rainy weather sending people to the covered walkway, or maybe the now open grocery store. For whatever reason, it was nice to see the Odenton Shopping Center busy with shoppers.

Odenton Shopping Center once had a grocery store and department store to anchor either end. Two years ago we wrote about the history of the shopping center and the endearing meaning it has had to the community in the last fifty years, Anchors aweigh!  The center had been on the decline since the department store closed decades ago and the grocery store closed in 2011. On December 14, 2015, Giant Food opened in the empty grocery store space. Once again bringing a major anchor to the shopping center.

Since the Giant opened, the parking lot, throughout the center, has been full. It’s only been a week but the other businesses should be seeing some residual effect. With all of the development taking place around Odenton, it is certainly pleasant to see the center full of people and once again a vibrant part of the community.

Anchors aweigh!

The Odenton Shopping Center has been a firm fixture in western Anne Arundel County, MD for the last fifty years. Some have recently called the shopping center an eyesore. Those of us that have lived in the area for most, if not all, of our lives remember the Odenton Shopping Center as the town center; the center of commerce for the surrounding area. You could shop at WT Grants or have a casual lunch at the store’s diner. Kids could grab a soda from Beacon’s Pharmacy and then head over to Western Auto for bicycle tire patches. A man could pick up his tailored suit from Gordon’s while his wife shopped at the Princess Shop. Get your haircut at Odenton Barbershop; pick up dinner at the A&P, and a bottle of wine from Odenton Liquors.

Over the years, stores have come and gone. Odenton Barbershop has survived almost fifty years and Odenton Liquors almost forty. There always seemed to be a pharmacy, auto parts, and clothier. The other staple was a department store and/or grocery store.

What happens to a shopping center when the anchor stores leave?  When the larger national chain stores leave there is less traffic to the shopping area for the independent stores. Can the smaller independently owned businesses survive without the traffic driven by the anchors? Superfresh closed in 2011 and has yet to be filled. CVS has closed and moved across the street.

An anchor store is defined as a larger store, usually a department store of a national retail chain. But you could also argue that an anchor is a stable merchant that has been in the same location and supported the community for decades. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, the presence of anchor stores defines the shopping center type, in this case a neighborhood center or community center.  A neighborhood center is designed to provide convenience shopping for day to day needs of consumers in the immediate neighborhood. A community center offers a wider variety of apparel and other goods, usually having a supermarket, super drugstore, or department store. Walkable, mixed-use areas are becoming the popular design. While the Odenton Shopping Center is on a major thoroughfare and is accessible to pedestrians from the hiker-biker trail and older communities behind it, it does not fit into the current design philosophy of developers.

I spoke to several of the existing business owners or managers. There were differing reactions to the amount of business that has been loss or gained. Depending on the type of business some have seen steady customers or a slight increase. Others have had to restructure their inventory to attract a different customer base. All agreed that the presence of grocery chain would increase their clientele and, of course, benefit the strength of the shopping center.

There are currently four vacant spaces. From what is publically known the departure of the Superfresh, CVS, and Fashion Bug stores were not due to the lack of the customer base or the shopping center, but rather corporate decisions that affected the chains nationwide.

We are watching the Odenton Shopping Center devolve from one defined type of shopping center to another. The question is which way is the shopping center heading? Will it continue to loose tenants and become a strip with empty space? Attract a national, large capacity retailer?  Or fill the space with more locally owned retailers to service the needs of the community.