Carroll

Formed January 19, 1837 (21^st county)

Carroll County (172,890), Westminster (20,134)                

The pleasant 1883 red brick facility was enlarged in 1935.  It is on Court Street at Greenwood Street.  Maryland State Highway 97 is three blocks to the northeast.  James Shellman is the courthouse designer.  A County Administration building was built in 1973 and an Annex was added in 1979.  The earlier courthouse was built in 1838 in Westminster, the only county seat.  A District Courthouse augments the county buildings.  Carroll County is named for Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence.  Westminster is named for Westminster, England.  Carroll County was the birthplace of 1 Maryland Governor, Frank Brown.  The county was formed from Baltimore and Frederick counties on January 19, 1837 as the 21^st county. 

Carroll County government consists of an administrator, and a sheriff (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty Circuit Court Judges serve Carroll, Anne Arundel and Howard counties, Eight District Court Judges serve Carroll and Howard counties and a court clerk and county attorney serve Carroll County (judicial.) Carroll County is in northern Maryland on the border with Pennsylvania.  Baltimore, Maryland is southeast and Washington, District of Columbia is southwest of the county.  The county center is 4.8 miles Southwest of Westminster nearer New Windsor.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Howard, and Frederick counties. 

The area of the county is 452 square miles.  It is 16 out of 24 in the state.  It ranks 9 out of 24 in population in the state.  It has a density of 382.5 persons per square mile making it 9 out of 24 in the state.  Carroll County has 30.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 70 cuts the southwest tip of the county from Howard County, east, to Frederick County, west.  United States Highway 40 is connected with Interstate Highway 70 from Howard to Frederick counties.  The county is shaped like the number 7.  Westminster is slightly north of the center of the county.  Westminster is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 11.7% of the county population.  This county is in the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area.