A popular local diner and the roadway that carried wagon trains full of pioneers out west are among the new additions to Preservation Howard County's annual list of top 10 endangered historic sites.

The Forest Diner in Ellicott City and the National Road were the two new additions to the nonprofit organization's list, released June 28. Several of the sites on the 2009 list, including Doughoregan Manor, have been on the list repeatedly.

Preservation Howard County each year takes nominations from residents, government and other organizations and then narrows the list down to the top 10, said Mary Catherine Cochran, the organization's president. While not always successful in saving threatened sites, the group has tried to raise awareness of historic preservation in the county, she said.

"Preservation Howard has been around for almost 10 years and it's been a struggle," Cochran said. "The county has grown so fast ... without any vision for holding on to our roots, a lot of what we have will be lost forever."

The Forest Diner, which has been in business on Route 40 for more than 60 years, was recently sold to make way for an office and retail complex, but owner Will Reich worked out a deal that allows him to rent back the space for about another four years.

The organization described the diner as a "beloved landmark" and an example of a vanishing type of Americana. The original dining car that makes up the shell of the restaurant could be moved to another location, perhaps serving as a tourist center or other business if a diner is not feasible, Cochran said.

"We would like to see it survive," Cochran said. "I think it's a pretty neat piece of our history to try to keep in Howard County."

Reich said this week he would like to relocate the dining car, which can seat 40 people, and continue to operate it as a business at another location, if possible.

"I realize the importance of the diner to people," he said. "The ambiance and the memories and everything tied to it."

National Road concerns

The organization also called attention to the National Road, known in Howard County as Route 144, the historic path that started in Cumberland and connected the port of Baltimore with the Northwest Territories in the early 1800s. The first federally planned and funded highway in the country, the National Road is threatened by unregulated development, according to the organization.

As an example of that development, Preservation Howard cited the new Miller Branch Library on Route 144, describing it in a news release as a "looming post-modern structure completely out of place along what used to be the wagon trail that pioneers traveled during the great westward expansion."

The new library, located next to the site of the current Miller branch, is set to break ground in December and open to the public in December 2011. It will serve as a new home for the Howard County Historical Society and Valerie Gross, executive director of the Howard County Library, disputed the idea that the building will be out of place in the community.

Stone on the exterior, small square windows and a stone bridge wall that connects the front and back of the building are all designed to fit into the area's traditional architectural design, while still allowing for a modern library building, she said. Little touches throughout the building will reference Howard County history, she said.

Cochran said the county needs to do more to regulate and plan development along the National Road and said that while the library design is beautiful, it remains out-of-place on the historic roadway.

Doughoregan Manor, the historic home still owned by the family of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is on the list again this year, as it has been in years past. Erickson Retirement Communities, which was to develop a portion of the property in order to preserve the historic manor and the rest of the land, last week backed out of the deal. (See related story)

Three sites on previous years' lists were not on this year's. The Mount Hebron Stone Barn was taken off because it is slated to be torn down for residential development, and Woodlawn, in Columbia, was removed from the list after its historic character was "irrevocably compromised" by a new commercial structure on the property, Cochran said.

The organization did tout one success: the South Branch Recreation area in Sykesville, taken off the list now that the town has made plans to use it to host outdoor concerts and festivals. Preservation Howard previously worried about the state of historic buildings on the site, which is owned by Howard County.

This article has been updated.

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user comments (8)

user milton says...

The Forest Diner is a “beloved landmark”? Wow, that’s an interesting way to describe such an unremarkable building.

Posted 12:29 PM, 06.29.09 | Permalink

user mdresident says...

The Forest Diner is nice, but not sure I'd go so far as calling it a "beloved landmark". It's not much different than the Double T Diner right next door.

Posted 2:43 PM, 06.29.09 | Permalink

user charmcitygirl says...

The Forest Diner is a dump. I was just there about two weeks ago and the food was terrible and it was dirty. We have plenty of really great diners in the area, this one won't be missed.

Posted 3:57 PM, 06.29.09 | Permalink

user samm says...

Listing the Forest Diner as an endangered historic site is a joke and wasting resources to preserve it is ridiculous. It has deteriorated so badly that it should be closed now instead of waiting 5 years.Service is awful and the food is mediocre.

Posted 11:15 AM, 06.30.09 | Permalink

user mdl7 says...

Calling it a "beloved landmark" is quite a stretch. But, for those of us with roots in the area - the Forest Diner is a nice link to good memories. It's a nice reminder of what Ellicott City was like when the Enchanted Forest was not a strip mall. With regards to it being "not much different from" the other Diner - that is so far from the truth. It's almost like saying that Soft Stuff is not much different from Rita's.

Posted 12:12 PM, 06.30.09 | Permalink

user citizentaxpayerjane says...

The State's Atty connection to developers is rolling out like a freight train for all to see with the Forest Diner transaction. It won't be overlooked. And while charmcitygirl has a leg to stand on, Milton is advertising without disclaimer rendering his perspective not helpful.

Posted 12:58 PM, 06.30.09 | Permalink

user mdresident says...

regarding mdl7's comment..."...With regards to it being "not much different from" the other Diner - that is so far from the truth. It's almost like saying that Soft Stuff is not much different from Rita's."... It's simply a matter of opinion. While I can appreciate the many fond memories it may recall for yourself and many others, Forest Diner does not seem to me to be an "endangered historic site". When I think of that phrase, I think of things like farmhouses from the 1800s, or battlefields, not a diner.

Posted 3:22 PM, 07.01.09 | Permalink

user hocores says...

True, the Diner is not a battlefield, nor is it the Kings Contrivance restaurant. It is a memorable place of association for generations of people who live or once lived in the area.

Posted 1:20 PM, 07.05.09 | Permalink