Some Interesting History About Canterbury Woods
Written by Gregg Prillaman 8415 Queen Elizabeth Blvd., Jan. 21, 2022
My wife, Cindy, and I were at an open house here in Canterbury Woods a few months ago and struck up a conversation with two newer residents about the history of the neighborhood going back to colonial days and the Civil War and then when the houses were built in the 1960s. Susan DiMaina was also in the conversation and asked if I would write a piece to share with the rest of the community – particularly those folks who are recent arrivals. Susan is pretty persuasive, so I agreed.
By way of history, Cindy and I moved into our house at 8415 Queen Elizabeth Blvd. (at the corner of QE and Wakefield Chapel Road) in August of 1979 and, except for a few years overseas, have lived here ever since (42 years). We bought the house from Dalton and Auguste Bell who were the original owners. They signed the contract with the builders on March 21, 1964 to buy the lot (#114 in Phase 2) and have the house built, and took possession of the house on April 20 of 1965. The Bells left us a folder with the original sales information for the house and some marketing materials for Canterbury Woods. We also learned about the history of CW from our neighbors Bill and Betty Bowman who were the original owners of 8414 QE. Bill had always been active in the community, and Betty had been part of the sales team for the builders. When people came to the sales office Betty was one of the reps who described the development, house models, prices, options, etc. So she knew a lot about the community, the houses, and the builder. And we heard early stories from our neighbors Jack and Ann Crogan who moved into 8417 QE about 1968 with their family, including their son, Pat, who still lives there with his wife Pam. Pat grew up in Canterbury Woods and remembers clearly when houses were still being built, when Queen Elizabeth ended before the school, when all of the back yards ran together, when the two houses on Magdalene Ct. were destroyed by a gas leak, and much more.
So here are some of the things we learned from those sources and others.