Charlton Avenue

Benjamin Charlton, circa 1820-1894, was a prominent member of Washington, D.C.'s business and social community. He was a director at the Central National Bank, served on the Committee for the Inauguration of President Grover Cleveland, and married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Havenner, owner of the once famous Havenner’s Bakery in Washington, D.C., which Charlton inherited after his father-in-law’s death. In 1888, Charlton joined five other businessmen to develop about 400 acres along the B & O Railroad into 50 by 100 foot lots adjoining 50 foot streets laid out in an irregular pattern, and they named the development Charlton Heights after him. That same year, the Charlton Heights Improvement Company was established to attract white-collar workers from the city to the area, where about two dozen large Queen Anne and other Victorian-era style homes were built. After the demise of the Charlton Heights Improvement Company, Charlton Heights was renamed Berwyn Heights in April 1896, though the name Charlton Heights remains in current land records.

Berwyn Heights, Maryland · United States