Community
Guilford
Guilford retains a tangible connection to quarrying and railroad engineering, alongside a county park with a pond and paved walking path.
Guilford's quarry history survives in a distinctive railroad structure. The Guilford Quarry Pratt through Truss Bridge carried the B&O's quarry connection across the Little Patuxent River. Local researchers place its reconstruction here around 1902, when the rail extension opened to freight. The bridge entered the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.
Reading the industrial landscape
The iron span crosses the river at an angle, a feature that allowed the rail alignment to continue without a right-angle crossing. Its engineering tells a practical story: moving stone required a connection between the quarry and the regional freight network. The research includes historic drawings and photographs that help explain what a present-day visitor is looking at.
A separate park destination
Guilford Park, at 9900 Guilford Road in Jessup, offers a pond, fishing pier and 0.6-mile paved path. Treat the park and the historic rail bridge as separate destinations when planning an outing. Use the relevant trail map for the bridge, and check park information before planning activities around the pond.