Hoes Heights

In the early 18th century, the Evans Chapel Road was laid out in order to connect Job Evan’s Poplar Hill estate with the fledging Baltimore City. The section of the road passing through Hoes Heights and Heathbrook is the only part that continues to bear the original name. From Cold Spring Lane north to Poplar Hill Road, Roland Avenue follows the old course of Evans Chapel Road.

In Hoes Heights, no significant settlement took place along this road until the mid-19th century. During that period small communities evolved consisting of subsistence farmers, and laborers who worked in the nearby estates of Oakland and Woodlawn, and the old Village of Cross Keys.

Several black families owned some acreage in Hoes Heights. Gradually, this land has been developed and sold, largely to other black families, who still comprise about one half of Hoes Heights’ small population. The southern half of Hoes Heights was annexed to the City in 1888, the northern half in 1918.