Judge Paul T Pitcher: Maryland County Executive, Circuit Judge, and Dedicated Executive of Maryland

Each day, thousands of drivers head west out of Ellicott City, Maryland, heading for Anne Arundel County and the Chesapeake Bay. Some are traveling on businesses, perhaps connecting with opportunities in the commercial centers of Elkridge, Hanover, Severn, or Glen Burnie along the way. Others are making personal journeys, maybe visiting friends or relatives across the Howard and Arundel counties. Some may be heading even further afield via the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

So many different purposes and so many different journeys, but most are united by one common factor: the driver’s journey will take them along Maryland Route 100, or MD 100.

Of course, this road also bears another name. If you’ve driven along MD 100 recently, you may have spotted the commemorative signs bearing the highway’s dedication. This is the Paul T. Pitcher Memorial Highway, named for the man who first conceived the idea of a connecting highway in the Baltimore-Washington corridor way over half a century ago, and this is its story.

An Amazing Man, Phenomenal Vision, Unlimited Talents, and a Life Beautifully Fulfilled

Paul T Pitcher was many different things to many different people. Of course, he was a son, a husband, a father, a brother, and a friend, and this made him very dear to his family and those with a deep personal connection to the man. However, his life and work also had a profound effect on those who did not know him personally. In his capacity as a circuit judge and county executive, Paul T. Pitcher made changes and set precedents in the region that would stand the test of time.

Tragically, Paul T. Pitcher was called away from us long before his time, but not before he could make his presence felt in the local community. This presence is still being felt to this day, and it is memorialized by the dedication of Maryland Route 100.

• Early years in a time of cautious optimism for Maryland and the United States

Born in Maryland in the mid-1920s, Paul T. Pitcher began his life in a very different United States from the one we are familiar with today. At the beginning of the decade, the average American could expect to live to only around 54 years of age, thanks in part to a high level of infant mortality. Today, the average life expectancy is around a quarter of a century longer than this. In 1920, students spent, on average, 75 days a year in school, compared to around 180 days a century later. This was a difficult age in which to make a start in life, but Paul T. Pitcher certainly managed to do so.

The specter of the First World War still loomed large over the country, while presidents Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge presided over a time of uneasy hopefulness and increasing isolation from the rest of the world. Prohibition, laid down in 1920 by the Eighteenth Amendment, was in effect throughout the decade and would not be repealed until 1933.

But that hopefulness, although uneasy, was growing, as well as a sense of optimism, prosperity, and the indication that America was entering a golden age. Women got the vote, radio was transforming the way in which Americans interacted with one another and how they understood the world around them, and innovations in transport were bringing the nation closer together.

• A gathering storm across the country and across the world

It was into this world that the young Paul T. Pitcher emerged – a somewhat positive if troubled world, a world in which an economic crash and another American involvement in a global conflict seemed almost impossible. In 1929 and 1941, respectively, both of those tragic events would be realized.

But America would weather the economic storm of the 1930s and the dark days of the Second World War in which around 420,000 Americans would give their lives in the fight against fascism, and the nation would come out the other side strengthened and galvanized from this trauma. As the United States recovered from the Second World War and entered the second half of the twentieth century, a new age of optimism and prosperity began. And, Paul T. Pitcher – now a man – would play a key part in this.

• A new period of optimism and growth

As a Maryland-native and someone who had seen his home state undergo serious changes across several short decades, Paul T. Pitcher found himself committed to supporting a positive, plentiful future for this corner of the United States. His career path took him into legislature and local governance, and he quickly achieved the status of county executive in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

This was an exciting time for Maryland, just as it was an exciting time for much of the United States. The Boordy Vineyard had recently opened, heralding the beginning of a long-standing tradition of winemaking and viticulture in the state of Maryland. The region’s culture was also blooming. Children’s author Marguerite Henry captured hearts and inspired young people across the country and even the world, and acclaimed opera singer Rosa Ponselle took up a position as Artistic Director of the now-famous Baltimore Civic Opera Company.

All of this translated to a period of general excitement and economic growth in the region. In 1952, this growth was enhanced still further with the opening of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The structure – later renamed as the William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge after the governor of Maryland from 1947 to 1951 – is 4.3 miles in length and connects the eastern and western shores of the bay, providing huge support to trade and other activity in the area. It remains one of the longest overwater structures found anywhere in the world.

• A fruitful career serving the local populace

At this time, Paul T. Pitcher was still serving the citizens of Anne Arundel County as a county executive. As part of this role, he would have been tasked with overseeing the fiscal health and development of the county, as well as managing its spending and finances. Looking east to the bridge connecting his own county to Queen Anne’s County on the other side of the bay, Paul T. Pitcher would undoubtedly have seen the potential that such transport infrastructure could bring. In his role as county executive, he would be instrumental in the planning and approval of such infrastructure over the coming decade. And, it seems likely that the development of the bridge influenced his own ideas about what such infrastructure could do for this growing region.

Following his successful spell as a county executive in Anne Arundel, Maryland, Paul T. Pitcher would turn his attentions towards a role in litigation and legislature, becoming a circuit court judge for the district. This position would see Paul T. Pitcher serving his home county of Anne Arundel exclusively, as he traveled to different courtrooms and legal institutions around the district trying cases ranging from small matters of litigation right through to more serious felonies, some of which would have carried lengthy prison terms or even more grave sentences.

For a lifelong resident of Maryland and of Anne Arundel County, this was a position that brought much satisfaction to Paul T. Pitcher, as well as a high level of responsibility. By doing his part to uphold law and order in the county, he was able to give something back to the area of Maryland he loved so dearly, as well as help to strengthen and protect a growing, flourishing set of communities. However, he also could not help but understand the seriousness and magnitude of his role with the county, and this shaped and informed the diligence and care that he would apply to all of his duties in the next years of his career. 

• Working towards a bright and prosperous future for Maryland

This diligence and care, as well as civic pride, is something that characterized the career of Paul T. Pitcher as a dedicated public servant and a visionary who would help to shape the development of this corner of Maryland. Those who worked alongside Paul T. Pitcher would be struck not only by his high level of professional capability and his complete dedication to the public course but also by his warmth and humanity, as well as his plans for a county, a state – and not to mention a nation – that resided so close to his heart.

Paul T. Pitcher would go on serving Anne Arundel County for many more years to come, although not as many as he would have done had fate not dealt a tragic hand to Paul and his family. As a member of the legislature and a key figure in the legal framework of the region, as well as a public servant and member of the county executive committee, Paul T. Pitcher would make it his life’s work to help people across the county. This was something he was able to achieve and then some. His work touched the lives of so many people across Anne Arundel and in Maryland as a whole.

Today, Maryland remains a thriving business hub and commercial center for the eastern seaboard of the United States. Much of this is thanks to the work of Paul T. Pitcher and his colleagues across Maryland’s political and legislative systems. That the work of these individuals well over half a century ago is still being felt to this today is a testament to the spirit, bravery, and forward-thinking drive of those times.

• A decade marked by tragedy and a baton passed to the next generation of Pitchers

The 1960s saw more sterling work in the community from Paul T. Pitcher, but it was a decade of tragedy for the Pitcher family. Paul himself would not live to see the beginning of the 1970s. The family had already been rocked by the death of Paul T. Pitcher’s father, Reverend John W. Pitcher in 1959. Shortly after this came the death of Paul’s sister, Bertha E. Dunkle, in 1962. Paul himself would tragically follow only four years later, when he sadly passed away on the 9th of August 1968 in Pasadena, Maryland, aged only 43 [or 42, the source is unclear].

Paul was survived by his wife, Alsie Lucille Pitcher, née McAnninch, who was born a year after Paul in 1926 and lived a long and happy life with her family until her death in 2012, and his mother, Bertha E. Pitcher, née Hammond, who passed away in 1981. 

Paul T. Pitcher’s life and career were tragically cut short, but his children continued his great work in the local community and in Maryland as a whole. Paul’s son, J. William Pitcher, would continue the proud legacy of the Pitcher family, becoming a high-profile lobbyist and attorney at law. We will be taking a closer look at the life and work of J. William Pitcher in another piece to be published in the near future.

Paul T. Pitcher and Maryland Route 100

Paul T Pitcher was laid to rest in the Moreland Memorial Park in Parkville, Baltimore County, where he is remembered with a monument that also commemorates his beloved wife, Alsie. The monument reads “Together Forever,” and it is a touching reminder of the love that Paul and Alsie shared.

But for those outside of Paul’s immediate circle of family and friends, and for the thousands of drivers who use the highway each and every day, it is Maryland Route 100 that offers the most visible commemoration of the man and of his career. Paul T. Pitcher would undoubtedly be very proud of this and the huge economic and social benefit the road has brought to this part of Maryland, as well as to other local locations across the northeastern United States.

• The highway begins in the form of an idea

Paul T Pitcher conceived the highway in the early 1960s, and it did not take long for planning to get underway. Originally named the Dorsey Freeway, after the Dorsey Road that already ran through Anne Arundel County, the new stretch of road was designed to alleviate congestion throughout the country and to make navigating the southern and eastern reaches of Maryland far easier for all road users.

Looking at data from that period, it is not difficult to see why such a freeway was necessary. In 1951, there were 5.164 million cars sold in the United States. By 1955, that figure had grown to 7.466 million. And, while car sales slowed a little towards the end of the 1950s, by the early 1960s, sales were growing rapidly once again. More road users meant more traffic, more traffic meant more congestion, and more congestion meant an increased need for powerful solutions.

The proposed Dorsey Road was not the first of its kind in the area. Since 1955, the Maryland State Roads Commission (MSRC) had been designing and implementing a new road network across the state, serving the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis, among other major Maryland population centers, and connecting the state to nearby Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.

• A grand vision for a growing state 

It was from these plans that the earliest iterations of Maryland 100 were born. The MSRC had the grand vision of an outer beltway to surround Baltimore. The beltway would extend further than the existing Baltimore Beltway (I-695) and alleviate some of the pressure from this hard-working section of road.

The MSRC and other Maryland officials, including Paul T Pitcher, were both excited and alarmed by the rapid growth of Baltimore and the surrounding region throughout the mid-twentieth century. The city’s population grew by nearly 100,000 between 1940 and 1950 and would reach its peak of around 950,000 people in the mid-1950s. As this population boom began to slow in the urban center of Baltimore, the rise of suburban USA began to make its presence felt, and the population of Maryland continued to expand rapidly, hitting 2.5 million for the first time in 1952 and growing by between 2% and 5% almost every year from then until 1968. The writing was on the wall: something had to be done to make the most of these growing opportunities while also safeguarding quality of life for this expanding population.

This meant that the MD 100 road was something Maryland really needed. And, by 1963, work was underway on its construction. A 3.7-mile-long section was the first to be laid down, connecting the Glen Burnie Bypass with Mountain Road and providing a necessary bypass for traffic bound for the state capital at Annapolis.

• Controversies and barriers

But the construction of the Outer Beltway was not without its detractors and obstacles. As the plans began to take shape, controversy increased to the point that the project was partially shelved. The western and northern arcs of the beltway never really got underway at all, and plans for these sections were eventually phased out. Down south in Paul T Pitcher’s home county of Anne Arundel, there was similar controversy. But the highway’s supporters were able to demonstrate the worth of the project and were successful in continuing with construction.

The construction of MD 100 did continue, but at a slower pace than was initially expected. Tragically, this meant that Paul T Pitcher himself would not live to see the highway truly beginning to take shape. By the time of his tragic death in 1968, much of the highway remained incomplete.

In 1971, the highway reached the Baltimore-Washington Boulevard in Elkridge. Soon after this, a 4.3-mile stretch connecting Ritchie Road to Mountain Road was opened. But this success was only short-lived. Budget cuts and a shift in local government focus towards mass transit projects brought construction to a halt once again in the mid-1970s. And, eventually, plans to extend the highway beyond the Baltimore-Washington Boulevard were shelved altogether.

• The road is finally completed

It was not until 1994 that plans to extend MD 100 further west were revived once again. This time, the project was fully backed and properly funded by the local government, and the highway was opened in its entirety on the 23rd of November, 1998. While this completion came 30 years too late for Paul T. Pitcher himself, he would be delighted to witness the economic advantages the road system has brought to an area he loved so much. And, his family were overcome with pride when it was announced that this crucial stretch of road would bear the Pitcher name.

A Lasting Legacy in Maryland

The Maryland of today is a world away from the one Paul T Pitcher would have experienced growing up almost a century ago. The GDP of Maryland was rated at $374.39 billion in 2019, far in excess of the GDP of the entire nation back when Paul T. Pitcher was starting out on his career in 1950. Quality of life, job prospects, education, and a whole host of other economic indicators have also greatly improved.

There are many factors that have contributed to this growth and to this vastly improved situation. But a significant portion of the thanks goes to the men and women of the public sector, who have worked so hard to serve communities across Maryland. In order to be a great public servant, one must be ambitious and optimistic, as well as driven and focused. But there is more to it than this. They must also be selfless and community-minded, ready to put their careers on the line when it matters and to stand up and be counted for what they believe in.

Paul T. Pitcher was all of these things, and more. This is why the work that he and his colleagues did throughout the 1950s and 1960s deserves to be remembered. This is also why the results of their hard work are still seen and felt today. As Maryland looks to the future, it’s imperative that we do not forget our past. The next time you drive on Maryland Route 100, take a moment to think about the man who gave the road its name and the legacy that remains here in Anne Arundel County.

Reverend John W. Pitcher: A Life in the Church and a Lasting Legacy

The history of the Pitcher family in Maryland stretches back centuries, and this has led to the deep feelings of love and affection the family still hold for their state of origin. To tell the story of today’s Pitcher family and the work they do for businesses and communities across Maryland, we need to go back three generations to examine the life and work of Reverend John W. Pitcher, and to understand the influence and inspiration he provided to his descendants.

John W. Pitcher was born in Island Creek in Maryland’s Calvert County back in 1882. Calvert County is one of the oldest counties in the United States, and it is, in fact, far older than the nation itself. The county was established in 1654, and only St. Mary’s, Kent, and Anne Arundel counties can lay claim to a longer history than Calvert.

By the time of John W. Pitcher’s birth, Maryland had been a state for a little under a century. The Civil War of the 1860s was still fresh in the memory, and the state’s abolition of slavery was still less than 20 years old. Still, the Maryland that we know and love to this day was beginning to take shape. The present-day constitution of Maryland was established in 1867, and the Thomas Point Shoal Light – one of Maryland’s quintessential state symbols – was completed in 1875. A year later, in 1876, Maryland’s now-famous John Hopkins University was founded, and the state began to look forward to a new age of prosperity and development.

A Life and Career in the Church

As John grew older, he began to get a better idea of the journey his life would take him on. He became deeply interested in matters of spirituality and theology and set out to become a reverend of the Pentecostal Church. 

The Pentecostal Church was developing quickly in the early part of the twentieth century, and the young John, still in his thirties, would have been following events to the south and west of Maryland with great interest. Down in Atlanta, Georgia, Paul and Hattie Barth founded the Beulah Height Bible Institute in 1919 – a founding that would have seemed distant and remote to John W. Pitcher at the time, but which would go on to play an important role in his life and career with the church.

Two years later, the Barths’ Atlanta church would enter into partnership with several other churches in their area, forming the Association of Pentecostal Assemblies (APA) in 1921. 

Around the same time, and several hundred miles west, the National and International Pentecostal Missionary Union was founded in the state of Ohio. Initially, this union was registered as a state corporation supporting Pentecostal missionaries and carrying out fellowship work. However, the remit of the union would be expanded, and the group would change its name to the International Pentecostal Church (IPC) soon after.

These two organizations would play a pivotal role in the ongoing development of the Pentecostal church in the eastern United States, as well as across the country. Maryland was no exception to this influence, and the local Pentecostal church that John W. Pitcher was already heavily involved with would become the fulcrum for a new, unified, forward-thinking church. 

A Growing Family and a Flourishing Professional Reputation

By now, John was married to Bertha E. Pitcher, nee Hammond, and had relocated from the county of his birth, heading west across the Chesapeake Bay to Anne Arundel County. It was here, in the town of Pasadena, that John and Bertha welcomed their son Paul T. Pitcher to the world in 1925, as well as a daughter, also named Bertha after her mother. Anne Arundel County became a very important part of the Pitcher family’s identity, and this deep connection to the county would manifest itself in the life and work of Paul, as well as that of future generations of Pitchers. However, Reverend John W. Pitcher also understood that the state’s largest city, Baltimore, the commercial and cultural hub of Maryland, not to mention its spiritual center, would always play a big role in his life and career.

It was in Baltimore that a formative event in both the life of John W. Pitcher and the development of the Pentecostal church in the United States would take place. On the 25th of August, 1936, the APA and IPC would meet in Baltimore to discuss the formation of a new union. The meeting took place at the Radio Church in Baltimore and would result in the formation of the International Pentecostal Assemblies (IPA). Reverend John W. Pitcher was elected as the group’s first chairman, and the Pentecostal church now had a unified voice and a clear direction for the future.

The IPA, under the stewardship of John, continued to uphold the traditions and practices of its constituent groups, continuing to publish The Bridegroom’s Messenger – established in 1907 and arguably the oldest Pentecostal publication anywhere in the world – and keeping up its missionary work in communities across the globe. The family would relocate once more to Baltimore so John could carry out his duties as chairman of the IPA.

A Legacy that Stands the Test of Time

The 1940 census records the Pitcher family as living at 4304 Furley Avenue in the city of Baltimore. John is recorded as aged 58 and designated as the head of the household. Also living at Furley Avenue at that time is John’s wife Bertha, 56, and son Paul, 14, as well as John’s elder brother Elonza, aged 65. Daughter Bertha is not recorded as living with the family at this point.

John W. Pitcher would live another 19 years until his death in 1959. Tragically, his two children Bertha and Paul would also die within only a few years of their father. But John’s legacy of hard work, a strong moral outlook, and a dedication to the local community would live on in future generations of the Pitcher family. John’s wife Bertha would live to see this legacy taking shape, and she passed away in 1981, aged 97.