The Europeans were the second group to settle the area now known as Catonsville. It is generally believed by historians that established villages were here before the European colonists arrived. Local European colonists called knew them as the Piscataway tribe. This tribe occupied the land between the Potomac to the Chesapeake Bay and up the Patapsco River. Catonsville was settled along the Piscataway Trail. The colonists and the tribes got along until the mid 17th Century until the English government ended the Catholic Missionaries. It is believed that the tribes were driven from their villages and some were hunted by slave catchers. As happened in many areas of the early colonial America, diseases unknown the tribes were spread by the colonists. Eventually, the tribes moved north under the protection of the Iroquois.

With most of the natives scattered, the colonists expanded across Maryland. Present day Catonsville was settled in the 1700s. In the early 1800s, a county road along the Patapsco River was named the Frederick Turnpike, or later designated Route 144 was opened by the Ellicotts to service traffic between their flour mill and Baltimore. Catonsville as we know it today was settled along this route by Richard Caton by authority of his father-in-law Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration if Independence. Travelers along "the turnpike" as it was known rested and conducted business in the area as Catonsville grew.

The large beautiful Victorian and Colonial homes in Catonsville were built by wealthy folks moving from Baltimore. Originally these communities were used for summer residences to escape the heat in Baltimore. Eventually, as with many communities, with the introduction of the automobile and electric trolly, families moved to Catonsville year round. The combination of wealthy families, businesses and government workers, wage earners and others combines to be what today is the wonderful community of Catonsville. Baltimore attempted over the years to annex Catonsville, the last attempt in 1918. Today Catonsville represents a relaxed community conveniently located and with some of the loveliest tree lined streets in the area.

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