Sparks, Maryland
Sparks is an unincorporated community that is located in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is situated approximately north of Baltimore and is considered to be a suburb of the City of Baltimore. The Gunpowder River runs through Sparks. The popular North Central Railroad ("NCR") Hike-Bike Trail runs through Sparks along the basin of the Gunpowder Falls (a.k.a. the Gunpowder River). The town's ZIP Code is 21152 and it is frequently accessed at Exit 24, Belfast Road, along Interstate 83, a Highway that runs from Baltimore to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Although Sparks is unincorporated and has no official town limits, the area that is usually considered to constitute Sparks runs from several miles west of I-83 to Carroll Road to the east, and from north of Hunt Valley/Cockeysville along York Road and I-83 to Hereford. According to the 2010 US Census, 5,094 people live in the Sparks area. Glencoe is a smaller community that is largely surrounded by Sparks and the area is sometimes collectively known as "Sparks Glencoe, Maryland". History 1800s In 1835, the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad constructed a track through Baltimore County which included a siding and switch near a large tract of land owned by the Sparks family. Railroad officials gave the name Sparks to the switch, and soon area residents began to refer to the location as "Sparks' Switch." Abraham Lincoln's body was carried through Sparks on the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad from Washington, D.C., on its way to burial in Illinois following his assassination in 1865. For a number of years a creamery was operated for farmers who brought their milk in daily to be separated. (The stone structure which once housed the creamery can be seen today.) The cream was shipped to Baltimore while the skim milk was used by the farmers on their farms. With the passage of time, Sparks' Switch came to be known simply as "Sparks." In 1888, the area had grown to a point where "a substantial foot bridge 6 feet in width" had to be built across the Gunpowder River. Beginning in 1889, a combination passenger and freight station was operated by the Northern Central Railway (NCR) along the right-of-way and line that had previously been known as the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad. A passenger and freight stop along the North Central Railroad was named Sparks Station. Railroad operations through Sparks ceased in 1972, as a direct result of major damage to the tracks and rail bed that occurred during flooding that followed Hurricane Agnes. The section along York Road that is today known as Sparks was previously named Philopolis. (The name "Philopolis" is from the Greek and means "Love Town." Today, a subdivision of Sparks is named "Loveton Farms."). The original town of Sparks, as distinguished from Philopolis was merely a cluster of homes and farms one mile to the east along the NCR tracks and Sparks Road. Philopolis was the site of the Milton Academy, a well known private day and boarding school for boys. Of note