Real estate developers arrived in the 20th century to build houses, and entrepreneurs formed a main street corridor on Harford Road.

Residents in the 21st century have attempted to revive and protect Harford Road's main street economy as well as the reputation of the Hamilton area.

[1] They used the hilly, rugged terrain as hunting and trapping grounds, living instead to the north in the lower valley of the Susquehanna River.

[1] Beginning in 1634, the Maryland Colony's first English settlers spread north into the Baltimore area from St. Clement's Island in the Potomac River.

[4] In 1780, during the American Revolutionary War, the Maryland General Assembly passed an act to confiscate all British property in the state.

[4] Over time, wealthy merchants from Baltimore Town built large estates on some of it, and truck farmers arrived to supply food for the region on other lots.

[4] Harford Road was built as early as 1791 in part to provide these merchants and farmers with a trade route into Baltimore Town.

[6] By the late 19th century, travelers in the region recognized North Lauraville as a rest stop and a center for horse and carriage supplies.

[8] Other businesses supporting the horse and carriage market as well as local farmers were opened along Harford Road and Tames Lane.

[8] In the late 19th century, a retired sea captain named Hamilton Caughey donated land for Baltimore County to extend Tames Lane west of Harford Road.

[19] General Motors, Standard Oil, and Firestone Tire influenced the conversion of the city's streetcars to buses,[19][20] and Hamilton's rail service on Harford Road was discontinued on June 19, 1956.

[24][25] To combat urban decay in the Hamilton-Lauraville area, local advocates targeted the Harford Road corridor for revitalization during the 1990s and 2000s.

[26][27] The organization's mission is to provide "quality of life experiences that retain residents and attract new neighbors, and to create opportunities for local businesses".

[27] Hamilton Lauraville Main Street has since hosted cultural events in the neighborhood and provided grants to businesses for improvements.

[31] In 2019, the real estate website Redfin ranked Hamilton 4th in its top ten hottest affordable neighborhoods in the United States.

[30][33] Some city agencies and local research organizations continue to include Hamilton Hills in their data for Harford-Echodale-Perring-Parkway (HEPP), a neighborhood cluster that includes Hamilton Hills and the neighborhoods of North Harford Road, Overlea, Taylor Heights, and the section of Westfield west of Harford Road.

[33] Most of Hamilton Hills is land, though a thin section of Herring Run, which flows just outside of the neighborhood's western border, passes through the southwest corner.

[40] Neighborhoods that are adjacent to Hamilton Hills include the community formerly known as Glenham-Belhar,[41] Lauraville, Loch Raven, North Harford Road, Waltherson, and Westfield.

[47] About 19.1% of Hamilton Hills households had received some form of cash assistance or SNAP benefits within the past year[49] compared to 25.0% citywide.

[69] Clementine, a farm-to-table restaurant that closed in 2017,[70] was featured on an episode of the Food Network series Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

[39] Because many houses in Hamilton-Lauraville were built with ample yard space, hundreds of urban gardeners and farmers live in the area.

[73] The agency manages Hamilton Hills' North Harford Park, which provides athletic fields and other recreational facilities at 6800 Hamlet Avenue.

About 90.5% (6,285) of Hamilton Hills' adults 25 years of age or older had at least a high school diploma or equivalent compared to 85.2% for the entire city.

[110] After a housing boom following World War II, the larger Hamilton Branch building was constructed and opened in January 1959.

[114] The changes were part of a $400,000 Hamilton Business District Streetscape project that reduced the number of traffic lanes for cars from four to three.

The agency also operates its MobilityLink service in the neighborhood, providing paratransit for riders who are unable to use Baltimore's buses or trains.

[118] The Green Line, which the MTA proposed in 2002 as part of a broader Baltimore Region Rail System Plan, would have included a stop in Hamilton Hills.

[120] The section of Harford Road that runs through Hamilton Hills forms part of the neighborhood's eastern border and is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) long.

[122] The section of Perring Parkway that runs through Hamilton Hills forms the neighborhood's western border and is 1.3 miles (2.1 km) long.

Northern Parkway runs east to west across the city, connecting Liberty Heights Avenue in Northwest Baltimore to Belair Road in Overlea.