| Ellicott City, Maryland | |
|---|---|
| — CDP — | |
| Main Street, Ellicott City Historic District | |
| Location of Ellicott City, Maryland | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Maryland |
| County | Howard |
| Area | |
| • Total | 32.1 sq mi (83.1 km2) |
| • Land | 32.0 sq mi (83.0 km2) |
| • Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2) |
| Elevation | 180 ft (55 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 65,834 |
| • Density | 2,051.9/sq mi (792.2/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 21041-21043 |
| Area code(s) | 410, 443 |
| FIPS code | 24-26000 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0584282 |
Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The population was 65,834 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Howard County.[1] Founded in 1772, the town features the B&O Railroad Museum Ellicott City Station, built in 1830, and a downtown historic district which is a very popular destination among antiques shoppers, with restaurants, eclectic boutique shops, coffee shops, a tea room and many historic sites. As of the 2000 Census, Ellicott City surpassed Towson, Maryland, as the largest unincorporated county seat in the country.
Ellicott City is listed amongst America's most affluent communities and is located in Howard County, the third wealthiest county in the United States according to the U.S. Census Bureau.[2] Since 2005, Ellicott City has been ranked four times among the top "20 Best Places to Live in the United States" by Money and CNNMoney.com.[3][4][5] [6]
The downtown area is often called "Historic Ellicott City" or "Old Ellicott City", to distinguish it from the unincorporated area that extends north to the Baltimore County line, south to Columbia, and west to West Friendship.
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In 1772, three Quaker brothers from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, chose the picturesque wilderness, upriver from Elk Ridge Landing (known today as Elkridge, Maryland) to establish a flour mill. John, Andrew, and Joseph Ellicott founded Ellicott's Mills, which became one of the largest milling and manufacturing towns in the East.
The Ellicott brothers helped revolutionize farming in the area by persuading farmers to plant wheat instead of tobacco and also by introducing fertilizer to revitalize depleted soil. Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a wealthy landowner, was an early influential convert from tobacco to wheat.
In 1830, Ellicott's Mills became the first terminus of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad outside Baltimore. The station, built of huge blocks of locally quarried granite, stands today as a living history museum, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It bears the designation as the "Oldest surviving railroad station in America". The famous race between Peter Cooper's iron engine, the Tom Thumb, and a horse-drawn carriage took place at Relay on the return trip from Ellicott's Mills in August 1830. Even though the horse won the race due to a broken drive belt on the Tom Thumb, steam engines steadily improved, and the railroad became a vital link in the town's economy.
By 1861, Ellicott's Mills was a prosperous farming and manufacturing area. The site of the courthouse, which was built from 1840-1843 when the Howard District of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, was so designated in 1839. Howard County, Maryland, became an official independent jurisdiction in 1851. On July 10, 1864 Federal troops under the command of General Lew Wallace retreated down the National Pike from the Battle of Monocacy to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Ellicott's Mills station. Homes and churches in Ellicott's Mills were temporarily used as hospitals for the Union wounded. In 1867, a city charter was secured for Ellicott's Mills, and the name was changed to "Ellicott City". The only chartered city in the county, Ellicott City lost its charter in 1935 and was designated a historic district by the county in 1973. Ellicott City today serves as the county seat for Howard County.
In the early summer of 1972, the downtown Main Street area was extensively flooded by Hurricane Agnes; the Ellicott brothers' house on the mill property was also destroyed. A more severe flood in 1868 wiped most early industry from the valley, but spared the flour mill.
Historic Main Street has also been the site of several devastating fires, most notably in November 1984 and again on November 9, 1999. The former was started by Leidig's Bakery's faulty air conditioning unit and destroyed six buildings; the latter, a 6-alarm blaze which destroyed five businesses and caused an estimated $2 million in damage, was accidentally started behind a restaurant by a discarded cigarette.
The Ellicott City area was the home to the fairy tale-themed amusement park known as the Enchanted Forest. The park has been closed to the general public since the early 1990s, and a shopping center (called the Enchanted Forest Shopping Center) was built on its parking lot. Many of the attractions have been moved to Clark's Elioak Farm in Ellicott City, where they are being restored. The Enchanted Forest was featured in the 1990 John Waters-directed film Cry-Baby, starring Ricki Lake and Johnny Depp.
Ellicott City has been called one of the most haunted small towns on the east coast. The Howard County Tourism Council runs a Ghost Tour that visits several places with reputations for paranormal activity.[7] Among these are the mansions Lilburn, Hayden House, and Mt. Ida; the B&O railroad bridge that crosses over Main Street in the center of the town; the old Ellicott City Firehouse; and the Patapsco Female Institute.
Ellicott City is located at (39.26806, 76.79889).[8]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 32.1 square miles (83 km2), of which 32.0 square miles (83 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2), or 0.19%, is water.
Like Rome, Ellicott City is claimed to be built on seven hills. These hills lie southeast of the Historic District, which is on the banks of the Patapsco River. Continuing the Rome analogy, the small tributary of the Patapsco that forms the narrow valley followed by Main Street is named the Tiber River.
As of the census[9] of 2000, there were 56,397 people, 20,250 households, and 15,288 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,760.9 people per square mile (679.8/km²). There were 20,789 housing units at an average density of 649.1 per square mile (250.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 78.33% White, 7.34% African American, 0.15% Native American, 11.90% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.14% of the population.
There were 20,250 households out of which 41.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.3% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 19.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.22.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.
According to a 2007 estimate,[10] the median income for a household in the CDP was $103,464, and the median income for a family was $120,064. Males had a median income of $63,938 versus $41,721 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $29,287. About 2.2% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.
Ellicott City is at present part of Maryland's 7th congressional district, currently represented by Democrat Elijah Cummings.
| Climate data for Annapolis, MD | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 78 (26) |
85 (29) |
97 (36) |
97 (36) |
99 (37) |
103 (39) |
105 (41) |
103 (39) |
101 (38) |
96 (36) |
87 (31) |
85 (29) |
106 (41) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 46 (8) |
51 (11) |
58 (14) |
69 (21) |
78 (26) |
86 (30) |
90 (32) |
87 (31) |
81 (27) |
69 (21) |
60 (16) |
53 (12) |
68 (20) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 31 (−1) |
34 (1) |
42 (6) |
50 (10) |
56 (13) |
68 (20) |
72 (22) |
71 (22) |
64 (18) |
54 (12) |
47 (8) |
36 (2) |
52 (11) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −2 (−19) |
−5 (−21) |
12 (−11) |
16 (−9) |
31 (−1) |
45 (7) |
54 (12) |
53 (12) |
37 (3) |
30 (−1) |
14 (−10) |
0 (−18) |
−5 (−21) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 3.52 (89.4) |
3.12 (79.2) |
4.12 (104.6) |
3.15 (80) |
4.23 (107.4) |
3.26 (82.8) |
4.04 (102.6) |
4.12 (104.6) |
4.28 (108.7) |
3.12 (79.2) |
3.59 (91.2) |
3.77 (95.8) |
44.32 (1,125.7) |
| Source: The Weather Channel"Monthly Averages". The Weather Channel. June 2011. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/2122?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared. Retrieved 2009-11-07. | |||||||||||||
Ellicott City proper is served by Mount Hebron High School and Centennial High School in the Howard County public school system; Marriotts Ridge High School serves most of the rest of the CDP area.[11] Two of the system's special schools, along with the central offices, also have Ellicott City addresses, though in fact they are on the northern edge of Columbia.[11]
Middle schools serving the CDP are Burleigh Manor, Dunloggin, Mount View, Ellicott Mills and Patapsco;[12] the elementary schools include Veterans, Northfield, Centennial Lane, Manor Woods, St. Johns Lane, Worthington, and Hollifield Station.[13]
St. John's Parish Day School is located in 1.5 miles from Main Street, and Glenelg Country School is located at the western edge of the CDP.
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