County
Sponsor
| Howard County Sponsor |
|
|
|
The Cities and communities of Howard County, Maryland *
Alpha, Annapolis Junction
Clarksville, Columbia, Cooksville
Daniels, Dayton
Elioak, Elkridge, Ellicott City
Florence, Font Hill Manor, Fulton
Glenelg, Glenwood, Guilford
Harwood Park, Highland
Ilchester
Laurel, Lisbon
Marriottsville, Mount Hebron
Oella
Poplar Springs
Savage, Scaggsville, Simpsonville
West Friendship, Woodstock
*This list of cities may not be complete. The list may contain towns, cities,
villages, boroughs, neighborhoods, townships, ghost towns and other populated
places.
If you have information about any of these unlinked communities, please send it to us and we will add a page for that community. Some of these places above may only be neighborhoods or local area names and are not listed with the census at all or just included in a larger surrounding designated census area..
Return to top
Information &
Facts about Howard County, Maryland
Government
Howard County, Maryland General Government - A guide to the citizens of Howard County, including a directory of services and information
Administration
3430 Courthouse Drive
Ellicott City, MD 21043
Phone: 410-313-2001
Fax: 410-313-3297
Howard County Police - Learn about the people and programs that help ensure Howard County remains a safe, prosperous place to live and do business.
There are no incorporated cities in Howard County though Columbia is the largest community. Under Maryland law, it is not incorporated.
Population:
1900 - 16,715
1910 - 16,106
1940 - 17,175
1950 - 23,119
1970 - 61,911
1980 - 118,572
1990 - 187,328
2000 - 247,842
2004 - 266,738
Housing Units
2000 - 92,818
Population Density
2000 - 983 persons per square mile
Location:
corridor between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, accessible to I-95 and I-70, the County is located within a 20-minute drive of Baltimore/Washington International Airport and the Port of Baltimore. The northern portion of the county is the suburban area around Baltimore while the southern portion of the county is more oriented to Washington, D.C. Most of the county is where the suburbs of these two areas overlap.
Climate:
The county enjoys a four season climate with cold damp winters and warm, humid summers
History:
a successful melding of old and new, urban and rural, where the rolling green hills of the Piedmont meet the rocky fall line of the glaciers. It is home to over 243,000 people, a setting where one of the most modern cities in the world sits side by side with a city older than the republic itself.
Ellicott City celebrated its bicentennial in 1972, four years before the United States; while Columbia, the metropolitan center, was carved out of rolling Howard County farmland only thirty years ago.
Although the first settlers of Maryland inhabited the low lands near the Chesapeake Bay, Thomas Brown, known as the Patuxent Ranger, had traveled as far as Clarksville in Howard County by 1699. Around 1700 the Piedmont area and Howard County were being surveyed and settled. In 1707, a large land grant, Doughoregan Manor, was deeded to Charles Carroll, grandfather of the signer of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll III.
Farming was the way of life for the early settlers here, with tobacco the basis of the economy. However, commerce and industry were also significant early on, with the availability of water power along the rivers and the port at Elk Ridge Landing. Local iron ore and tobacco were shipped from the Landing along a navigable channel on the Patapsco River to the Chesapeake Bay.
Originally part of Anne Arundel County, the area was designated the Howard District in 1839, in honor of John Eager Howard, statesman, soldier, and fifth governor of Maryland. Howard County became the 21st of Maryland's 23 counties in 1851, with the county seat at Ellicott Mills.
Many distinguished statesmen and leaders, including four Maryland governors have called Howard County home. George Howard was the 22nd governor and the son of John Eager Howard, the County's namesake. T. Watkins Ligon was the 30th governor and is interred at St. Johns Episcopal Cemetery in Howard County. John Lee Carroll was the 37th governor. Edwin Warfield, Maryland's 45th governor, is the only native-born Howard County state executive.
At the time of the American Revolution, Charles Carroll III wrote many articles denouncing the Stamp Act and defending the position of the colonists. Carroll was sent to Philadelphia as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and while there signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The County's growth both past and present is closely associated with its location along major travel routes. The Patapsco River, old post roads and turnpikes, the B & O Railroad, major north-south and east-west highways have brought both settlers and commerce to the County.
Geography:
This is the only county in Maryland that does not border the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, another state or Washington, D.C..
Total area: 254 square miles
Total land area: 252 square miles
Total water area: 2 square miles
Genealogy:
US GenWeb page for Howard County
Libraries:
Howard County Library
Central Library
10375 Little Patuxent Parkway
(Little Patuxent Parkway & South Entrance Road)
Columbia, MD 21044
Phone: 410-313-7800
Economy:
Howard County Economic Development
Authority
6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 500
Columbia, MD 21046
Voice: (410) 313-6500
Fax: (410) 313-6525
Schools:
Howard County Public Schools
10910 Route 108
Ellicott City, MD 21042
Phone: 410-313-6600
Howard County Public Schools - One of the best school systems in the state - sample curriculum, learn vital statistics, view district boundaries and even look at the lunch menu and bus schedules.
Howard Community College - "You Can Get There From Here." Education and training to meet nearly every need from degree programs to job training to distance learning
Organizations & Groups
The Howard County Tourism Council,
Inc.
P.O. Box 9
8267 Main Street, Side Entrance
Ellicott City, MD 21041-0009
Phone: 800-288-8747
Howard County Chamber of
Commerce
Phone: 410-730-4111
FAX: 410-730-4584
Attractions & Other Information
Howard County Tourism - "So much. So Close." Find out why thousands visit us every year.
Return to top
Return to the Maryland Counties page
Return to the Maryland Page
Return to the Key to the City home page
Thanks for visiting Key to the City. We hope you will visit again soon. We'll leave the light on for you!!
This page was last updated on 26 August 2006 at 11:47 pm
This page was created 12 July 2003