| Scaggsville, Maryland | |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Maryland#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Scaggsville |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Howard |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 13.95 |
| Area Land Km2: | 13.04 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.91 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 5.39 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 5.04 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.35 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 9217 |
| Population Density Km2: | 706.76 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 1830.59 |
| Timezone: | EST |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 39.1425°N -76.89°W |
| Elevation Ft: | 367 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 20723 |
| Area Code: | 240, 301 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 24-70525 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2583685 |
Scaggsville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is situated near the southeastern tip of Howard County, between Laurel and Fulton. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 24,333.[2] The town mainly consists of residences, with some commercial establishments. Scaggsville generally falls within ZIP code 20723, assigned to Laurel, though the town formerly had its own post office.
At the 2000 census the Scaggsville area was counted as part of the North Laurel census-designated place.
The town is named for the Scaggs family, who settled 700acres of farmland in the 1830s and continue to live in the region. The area also used the name "Hells Corner" as a postal address in Civil War times.[3] [4] The historic path running through town was shown on maps as far back as 1795. This path is now named Lime Kiln Road, Scaggsville Road, and Whiskey Bottom Road.[5] In the 19th century, Scaggsville was a stagecoach stop on the trip from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. Stagecoaches would ford the Patuxent River until a wooden bridge was built in 1859, which washed out in an 1868 flood. In 1877 the community built a second southern road between Water's store in Fulton to the Souder House near Laurel, now known as Stansfield, Harding and Murphy Road.[6] Three additional bridges washed out by 1883 before a steel truss bridge was built.[7] In 1941, the Maryland Gazette reported that the town consisted of 15 households. Today, it has grown to a suburban community made up of several neighborhoods.
Scaggsville is located in southern Howard County, bordered by Fulton to the west, Columbia to the north, North Laurel to the southeast, West Laurel in Prince George's County to the south, and Burtonsville in Montgomery County to the southwest. The Patuxent River forms the southern edge of the Scaggsville CDP, as well as the Howard County line. U.S. Route 29 follows the western edge of the CDP, leading north 5miles to Columbia and south to downtown Washington, D.C. Interstate 95 forms the eastern edge of the CDP, leading northeast to downtown Baltimore and southwest 9miles to Washington's Beltway. Maryland Route 216 runs east–west through the center of Scaggsville, connecting US 29 and I-95, and leads 4miles southeast to Laurel.
Some residents have advocated changing the name of Scaggsville to Rocky Gorge, since the community borders the Rocky Gorge Reservoir (also known as the T. Howard Duckett Reservoir) on the Patuxent River. Efforts to change the name, however, have been unsuccessful.[8]