Our Story

A brief history of how the Gray Rock Farm community came to be.

The Gray Rock Farm Community

is situated next to Font Hill Manor, off Frederick Road in Ellicott City, between the Miller Library and the Font Hill community. The Manor was built in the 1700s by Admiral Hammond.

Thomas Beale Dorsey, son of Caleb Dorsey of Belmont, created the farm in 1813 from several tracts of land including Pinkstone’s Delight, Fifth Edition, Ben’s Luck, Rebecca’s Lot and Gaither’s Adventure. Thomas Dorsey was 55 years old at the time and had served as Attorney General of Maryland. In 1816 and 1817 six more tracts of land were purchased and added to the farm.

Thomas Beale Dorsey died at Gray Rock (also known as Grey Rock) on September 6th, 1828 at the age of 60. His daughter Sarah and her husband, Dr. Arthur Pue, inherited the farm in 1837 after the death of Mrs. Achsah Dorsey. Over the next 106 years, the farm was sold several times, and some of the land was sold off separately.

On May 14th, 1943 Charles E. Miller (former Howard County Commissioner) purchased what was left of the farm and farmed it until 1980. In 1964 the Miller Land Company was established and the property was subdivided as follows:

one 300 acre lot
several small plots
a plot for a library (now the Miller Library)
50 acres intended for a hospital

In 1974, the Miller Land Company was denied permission to build a hospital and the land sat vacant for a while. In 1979, upon the death of his father, Paul Miller became the president of the Miller Land Company.

In the 1980s and 1990s the Gray Rock Farm Community came into being on the 300 acres of land. 283 single family homes were built, all on half acre lots, but several of those homes now include a “granny flat” designed to house relatives. Gray Rock Drive is the main entrance to the Gray Rock community.

In 2002 the 50 acre plot was donated to Carroll Lutheran Village of Westminster, Maryland. In 2016 the Lutheran Village at Miller’s Grant opened, and now has over 350 residents and over 150 employees.

Many of the residents of Gray Rock Farm are the original owners of their homes, but it has become a very diverse community over the years. In some cases, three generations live in the neighborhood and would not think of living anywhere else!