[5] The community was first settled in 1830 and continued to develop throughout the decade, beginning with the construction of house settlements along Parr's Ridge.

Following 1830, the town received its official name after the suggestion of "Mount Airy" from an Irish B&O worker who complained about his freezing ears on a windy work day.

Dorsey, Davis and Bussard were the most prominent names in that first settlement, which was followed closely by the construction of the B & O railroad line in 1831.

Because Mount Airy sits at an elevation of 830 feet (250 m), a series of four inclined planes were constructed in order for the trains to climb the steep hills.

Pine Grove Chapel, circa 1846, now a historic monument, was constructed to fill the need for a community church.

[10] The chapel remained open during the early part of the Civil War despite soldier encampments in proximity.

[10] In 1893, the Carroll County Board of Education funded the construction of a three-room schoolhouse which was completed in September 1894.

The building, approximately 1,700 square feet (160 m2) in size, was located on the east side of Main Street, 1/4 mile south of the railroad tracks.

The first Mount Airy mayor was Byron S. Dorsey, who served ten years in that office between 1894 and 1904.

[citation needed] The town of Mount Airy endured three disastrous fires during the first quarter of the 20th century.

The third fire took place about ten years later, in 1925, and again, the northern side of the downtown business district was destroyed.

[citation needed] During the late 1920s and early 1930s the town continued to flourish despite the onset of the Great Depression.

The thriving economy supported the initiation of several large businesses in the 1930s, such as a poultry operation, two automobile garages, an ice factory, and the creation of the Mount Airy Canning Company, which provided about 250 jobs.

In 1932, the first motion picture theater opened in Mount Airy, establishing a core business district.

Airy is similar to back in the day with the National Road but now with Interstate 70 bordering the southern end of the city with an interchange with MD-27.

Mount Airy's Main Street, formerly MD 27 and now Maryland Route 808, runs atop Parrs Ridge in a northeast–southwest direction with elevations ranging between 800 and 850 feet (240 and 260 m).

Numerous valleys that extend outward toward the east and west from this ridge give the town its unusually hilly topography.

The east side of Mount Airy drains via tributaries of Middle Run and the South Branch of the Patapsco River to Baltimore Harbor.

Nearness to the Atlantic Coast allows coastal storms to make up any deficiency of precipitation resulting from the passage of weather systems over the mountains to the west.

The average annual temperature is approximately 54 degrees, with January generally the coldest month and July the warmest.

The Town of Mount Airy is in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7a for an annual extreme minimum temperature of 0-5 degrees Fahrenheit.

The average annual precipitation totals about 45 inches, with February the driest and August the wettest month.

24% of Mount Airy's residents were German, 19% Irish, 12% English, 7% Italian, 4% Scottish, 3% French, 3% Black or African-American, 2% Dutch, 2% Polish and 2% Welsh.

People of Scotch-Irish, British, Ukrainian, Yugoslavian, Russian, French-Canadian, Czech, Swedish and Norwegian descent each comprised 1% of the population.

The school has a natural-gas-fired heating system, school-wide air conditioning, and Internet access from the classrooms and computer lab.

Students in grades 9 through 12 in the Carroll County portion attend South Carroll High School 10 miles (16 km) northeast of town, while students in the Frederick County portion of Mount Airy attend Linganore High School 7 miles (11 km) west of town.