It is a suburban area of Baltimore that acquires significance from the collection of 18th, 19th, and early 20th century buildings.

[2] The Maryland Hunt Cup, which began as a competition between the Green Spring Valley Hunt and the Elkridge Hunt, traditionally started at Brooklandwood, the previous home of Charles Carrol of Carrollton (later St. Paul’s school) with the finish across Valley Road at Oakdene, at that time the home of Thomas Deford, which remains a private residence The buildings reflect major architectural styles popular in the United States from the Neoclassical of the 18th century to the Georgian and other revivals of the pre-1930 period and range from modest to elaborate in size.

[6] Greenspring Methodist Church's building, a small Carpenter Gothic structure, was constructed in 1872;[7]: 3  the landowner donated it to the community's black church, and it came into the possession of the present congregation in 1908.

[8] The district was designated and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Its boundaries encompass 282 buildings (148 contributing and 134 non-contributing) spread over an area of 4,800 acres (1,900 ha).