The earliest settlers arrived in Owings Mills around 1700. Samuel Owings, whose family had taken up land holdings in Green Spring Valley, built three mills along the Gwynns Falls. A single millrace connected all three mills; the Upper Mill ground flour, the Middle Mill produced grist and the Lower Mill g round limestone into plaster. Hence, Owings Mills.

Groffs Mill Drive was named after the Groff family who still operates the former Upper Mill. It presently stands on Reisterstown Road and Bonita Ave. When Will Painter bought the Lower Mill from Samuel Owings, the name changed to Painters Mill. Joseph Simonds was the last miller to operate Painter's Mill.

There were many prominent families in the area, who contributed to the success and growth of Owings Mills. Sherwood Farm and Sherwood Hill are named after the Sherwood family, prominent in the shipping and fuel oil business in Baltimore. Captain Sherwood headed the Old Bay Line which ran boats from Baltimore to Virginia.

Besides farming, mining was a big industry in the 18th and 19th centuries. Ore was extracted from the mines and streams located in and around Soldier's Delight Park.

The Triplett family operated chrome mines from the early 1800's until 1929. Mr. Buxton was the supervisor of the chrome mines during their World War I operation. Flint, gold and mica, (Isinglass), were mined in hills.

Wagons were used to haul all the minerals. The people who built or repaired the wagons were called Wainwrights and those who built or repaired the wheels were called Wheelwrights.

There were 8,853 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.6% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.0% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 43.2% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 6.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $53,424, and the median income for a family was $61,079. Males had a median income of $41,135 versus $33,359 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $27,107. About 4.6% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.