The area around our community was wilderness and was originally hunting and fishing grounds for the Susquehannock Indians. Later, with colonization, the area was claimed by the King of England and Baltimore County was founded in 1659.
It was via land grants to Charles Calvert and Lord Baltimore that the area became settled. Initially settlement began around Parkton along the York turnpike just before the Revolutionary War. Later the Susquehanna Railroad, (later called the Northern Central) was developed through the area in the 1830's. When the railroad was constructed through the area in 1835 it located a switch and station near a large tract of land that was owned by the Sparks Family. Railroad officials gave the name to the switch area as Sparks and this was eventually adopted by the local residents.
Additionally, part of the current Sparks community was originally called Philopolis (an area along York road) that was settled by Germans and Quakers. The Philopolis portion of Sparks includes the area of the old Milton Academy (originally Lambs School, then Milton Academy now Milton Inn). The Sparks family ancestors had stores and even managed a bank in the area.
What does milk, The royal family, and pumkin pie have in common? Loveton. That is, Loveton Farms.
That may be stretching things a bit, but it's true. There's a lot of history right here in our own community. Let's take a look further and delve into the history of Loveton Farms.
Loveton Farms is named after the Love Farm which was the former home of Dr. Thomas Love. The Love mansion still exists today and is surrounded by several communities including English Run which is now collectively called Loveton Farms. The original Loveton farm was the development of Dr. Thomas Love's son Captain Thomas who made the area one of the largest dairy farms in Baltimore County.
Now we're not so sure that ice cream was made on the farm but certainly dairy products are involved in its manufacture. The original farm sat atop what the old locals call 15 mile hill which overlooks the Hunt Valley and surrounding area. The land originally dates to around 1719 when it was originally granted to John Cromwell. The property was purchased by Thomas Sheridan in 1750. Dr. Thomas Love purchased a portion of the property in 1786. He Married Martha Worthington in 1802 and built the barns and slave quarters. The date the mansion was built is uncertain, but local historians suggest it was built shortly after he married. However, architectural surveys report the mansion dates to at least 1840. When Dr. Love died in 1821, he left 1,100 acres to his son Captain Thomas. Captain Thomas married Priscilla Presbury.
It was Captain Thomas who built the area into the dairy farm. He shipped milk via the local Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad to Baltimore. Now the story gets more interesting…...Thomas's granddaughter Bessie was Born at Loveton. Bessie as it turns out was the confidant to her niece Wallis Warfield who's marriage was to King Edward of Great Britain in 1936. That marriage turned out to be very historical indeed.
Captain Loveton's grandson inherited the property who then sold it to an immigrant from Italy in 1909, Mr. Angelo Lupo. Mr. Lupo continued the dairy business in the area. His descendants lived on the property until a portion of it was sold in 1966 to Maryland Properties a subsidy of the McCormick spice company. The company the developed the land around the farm. A portion of that land was then developed into Loveton Farms as we know it today.