Formed March 7, 1851 (22nd county)
Howard County (332,316), Ellicott City* (75,947), Columbia* (104,681)
The recent 1986 stone Modern courthouse replaced the 1843 classic structure. The courthouse is on Courthouse Drive at Ellicott Mills Drive. United States Highway 40 is five blocks to the northwest. Kamstra, Dickerson, and Associates provided the designs. An Administration Center was built in 1975. A District Courthouse also augments the county courthouse. Howard County is named for Governor John Eager Howard. Ellicott City is named for founders John, Andrew, and Joseph Ellicott. Howard County was the birthplace of 1 Maryland Governor, Edwin Warfield. The county was formed on March 7, 1851 from Anne Arundel County as the 22nd county with Ellicott City as the only county seat.
Howard County government consists of an executive, an administrator, and a sheriff (executive). It has 5 Council Members (legislative.) Twenty Circuit Court Judges serve Howard, Anne Arundel, and Carroll counties, Eight District Court Judges serve Howard and Carroll counties and a court clerk and a county attorney serve Howard County (judicial.) Howard County is in central Maryland. Baltimore, Maryland is east and Washington, District of Columbia is southwest of the county. The county center is 10.2 miles West of Ellicott City nearer West Friendship. The county is surrounded clockwise by Carroll, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Prince George’s Montgomery, and Frederick counties.
The area of the county is 254 square miles. It is 23 out of 24 in the state. It ranks 6 out of 24 in population in the state. It has a density of 1308.3 persons per square mile making it 4 out of 24 in the state. Howard County has 0.0% of its population in its incorporated areas since there are no incorporated cities. Interstate Highway 70 crosses east to west in the county from Baltimore County to Carroll County. Interstate Highway 95 cuts the southeast corner from Baltimore County to Prince George’s County. United States Highway 1 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from Baltimore to Prince George’s counties. United States Highway 29 comes from Baltimore County, east, and goes to Montgomery County, west. The county looks like an ice cream cone tipping northwest. Ellicott City is in the northeast quarter of the county. Columbia is directly south of Ellicott City. Ellicott City is the county seat and Columbia is the largest populated area. Ellicott City is 22.9% of the county population while Columbia is 31.5% of the county population. This county is in the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Ellicott City (unincorporated)
