Linwood is an agricultural village developed during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, largely by the Englar family, descendants of Phillip Englar, a German Swiss immigrant who came to Maryland via Pennsylvania in 1764. Taking advantage of the Linwood Station of the Western Maryland Railway that arrived in 1868, his grandson, Josiah, established a grain elevator, warehouse complex, lumberyard, and coal and grocery businesses. Numerous distinctive brick houses were erected by the Englar family and others, many sharing similar features that suggest a skilled local builder.
Josiah Englar’s house and the gable-front Englar and Son general store (1877; 419 McKinstrys Mill Road) still sits adjacent to the grain elevator. David F. Albaugh also ran a general store, incorporated within his handsome six-bay brick house (1876; 418 McKinstrys Mill), accessed through a side entrance. Similarly styled is the five-bay Washington Senseney House (1866; 429 McKinstrys Mill), and the Second Empire House (1886) with entrance tower at number 428 was built for Nathan Englar. Near the edge of town is the traditional five-bay farmhouse (1870; 432 McKinstrys Mill) built for Jonas Englar, along with a barn, smokehouse, and windmill. Also extant are the schoolhouse, Linwood Hall (1898; 525 McKinstrys Mill), and the Linwood Brethren Church (1905; 575 McKinstrys Mill). Just beyond, the Lantz-Hyde House at number 580, a V-notched log house with contrasting brick chinking, reflects the architectural traditions of the town’s eighteenth-century German settlers.
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