The area of present-day Catonsville was not inhabited by large numbers of Native Americans, rather serving as a hunting ground or a means of transit.

However, Native American arrowheads found in the area signal a presence in small numbers.

The Patapsco River itself, forming the southern boundary, bears a Native American name.

[5] The Native Americans had left behind a number of trails, some of which the earliest settlers adopted them for their own purposes.

Settlers from the latter would have traversed Anne Arundel County, before fording the Patapsco River at Elkridge Landing.

The history of present-day Catonsville follows its main artery, Frederick Road, which the town eventually developed around.

Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, owned the land around the then newly built road.

Catonsville served as a layover stop for travelers and the town increasingly grew and developed.

In 1884, the Catonsville Short Line railroad was built, providing 8 roundtrip trains to Baltimore daily.

Commuter traffic exploded in the 1890s with the construction of electric streetcar lines and fancy housing developments.

Homes of all sizes were constructed rapidly through the 1970s, when much of land around the Frederick Turnpike had been converted into housing.

A new and modern business district opened along the newly built Baltimore National Pike, north from the Frederick Turnpike.

Life Sounds Great is a series of compilation albums highlighting Catonsville musicians.

In 2007, Money magazine ranked Catonsville the 49th best place to live in the United States and the third best in Maryland and Virginia.

[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 14.0 square miles (36 km2), all land.

Catonsville is bordered by Woodlawn to the north, Baltimore to the east, by Arbutus to the southeast, by Ilchester to the southwest, and by Ellicott City to the west.