Previous anchors were Bambergers,[2] Hecht's,[3] Macy's,[4] Boscov's,[5] Lord & Taylor,[6] Saks Fifth Avenue,[7] and Sears.

[10] By late 1983, a summer 1986 opening had been announced as well as the fact that the mall was to feature 3 department store anchors with plans for two more.

[13] The area was identified as a primary growth center in 1979 by Baltimore County and originally intended to be built around a lake.

[14] The Rouse Company planned to develop the mall and surrounding area similar to its town center project in Columbia, Maryland.

At 2:18 PM on September 25, 1992, Christina Marie Brown was found dead from a gunshot wound to the back of the head along the vegetation lined portion of the path between the mall and the Metro station.

She was found ten minutes after leaving work as an employee of a cleaning company under contract to Saks Fifth Avenue at the mall, and was believed to have been traveling to the Metro station, en route to her home in Baltimore City.

[19] The murder received heavy local media attention, which led to a long-standing perception that Owings Mills Mall was unsafe.

After the closure of the trail, a walk between the mall and metro became impractical for most, thereby requiring the use of regular bus service.

Towson Town Center added Nordstrom in 1991 and that was the final blow to Owings Mills Mall upscale status.

"[25] In late September 2015, the interior of the mall was closed, leaving only Macy's, JCPenney, out-parcel restaurants and movie theater in operation.

[29] On December 5, 2017 it was announced that the property would be redeveloped as a lifestyle shopping center called Mill Station.

The $108 million project will be 575,000 square feet (53,400 m2) and anchored by Costco, Lowe's, and Dick's Sporting Goods.