Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery

The Perry Hall Improvement Association was formed in 1945 to “beautify, safeguard, encourage and improve the physical, moral and spiritual living conditions of the people who reside in or are influenced by the community of Perry Hall.” The association defined the area as “power lines on Belair Road near St. Joseph’s Church, on South, by Gunpowder Falls on North Joppa Road & Cowenton Avenue on East to power lines on Joppa Road near Simms Avenue.” The first meeting was held on July 31, 1945. The Association started in response to the proposed establishment of a cemetery on Joppa Road near Belair Road. This commercial venture was successfully defeated; the first of the Association’s many attempts to balance commercial and residential interests in the area.

Through the 1940s and ‘50s the Association successfully campaigned for reduced speed limits near the Perry Hall School, got street signs installed by the state on Route 40, and mounted several successful protests against rezoning for light industry and waste disposal (auto junkyard and garbage dump). Contacts with other area associations were established and although membership and attendance fell through the late 1950s the association continued to monitor and protest commercial development in the area.

The 1960s saw renewed interest in the Association and its activities. Successful lobbying resulted in the establishment of the Perry Hall branch of the Baltimore County public library and the formal change of name from Fullerton to Perry Hall by the Post Office. Traffic, roadway maintenance and zoning continued to be the major areas of concern. After 1965, zoning becomes the predominant area of interest for the Association. The Baltimore County rezoning plan, driven by the increase in population in the area and a desire to draw more commercial interests included many changes for the Perry Hall area. The history of the Association through the late 1960s and 1970s is one of almost constant protest or appeal of various zoning decisions by the Baltimore County Planning Board. In 1970, the Association celebrated its 25th anniversary with the publication of a history of the area, “An Invitation to Memory” and in 1976 was responsible for coordinating many of the Bicentennial celebrations in the area.

The 1980s again saw a decline in interest and membership in the Association. This may have been because rezoning disputes had been resolved for the most part and/or because increased population, housing and commercial interests in the area had moderated Perry Hall’s strictly residential emphasis. The proliferation of other interest groups in the area and of umbrella organizations serving the entire county presumably reduced the appeal of the Association.