New book recalls a simpler Towson of old

John W. McGrain Jr., the prolific local historian and photographer, celebrates Towson’s 250th birthday and transition from a one-house village to a modern bustling county seat in his recently published book “250 Candles for Towson: Documents and Memoirs.”

McGrain, who is in his late 80s, is the former secretary of the Baltimore County Landmarks Preservation Committee, and since 1998 has been the official county historian. He has written a charming love letter to a place that he loved in former times, before the wrecking ball arrived and hideous architecture took over.

Towson’s beginnings date to the 17th century with two colonial land surveys, James Meadow and Tracey’s Park.

Towsontown was primarily a farming area and by the mid-1700s boasted three taverns that no doubt slaked the thirst of the locals.

“For years it was an insignificant little place, consisting only of the tavern, which frequently changed hands, a dozen or so scattered houses, and a store or two. … There are a number of residents of Towson whorememberthetime when, for a quarter of a mile above and below the village, there stretched an unbroken line of great Conestoga wagons, drawn by six horses, en route to the West,” reported The Baltimore Sun on June 23, 1890, McGrain notes.

Using wonderful archival material from libraries and his own extensive files, McGrain has also relied on many maps and photographs that he took, and which date back more than 70 years.