Ellicott City

History

Prior to the establishment of Ellicott City, the main crossing of the Patapsco River connecting Baltimore with western Maryland stood about three miles north at what is now Hollifield (Old Frederick Road and Johnnycake Road). The main road continued west towards Mount Airy and Frederick along what later became Maryland Route 99. The first mill at that site on the river had been built by Christopher Gardiner in about 1716. Near this place, in 1766, James Hood used the Maryland Mill Act of 1669 to condemn for a mill site adjacent to his river-side property, where he built a gristmill. His son Benjamin rebuilt the corn grinding mill after one of the frequent Patapsco floods in 1768. On April 24, 1771, three Quaker brothers from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia, chose the picturesque wilderness several miles upriver from Elk Ridge Landing (today's Elkridge, Maryland), the uppermost part of the river then navigable by tobacco-loading sailing merchant ships in the 18th century, to establish a flour mill, purchasing of Baltimore County land from Emanuel Teal and from William Williams. John, Andrew, and Joseph Ellicott founded Ellicott's Mills, which became one of the largest milling and manufacturing towns in the East. In 1774, Joseph Ellicott purchased Hood's Mill for 1,700 pounds, which became known as "Ellicott's Upper Mills". In 1775 the brothers expanded their holdings with from Bartholomew Balderson. The Ellicott brothers constructed sawmills, smithies, stables, an oil mill, a grain distillery, and grain mills. Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737–1832), the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, a rare Roman Catholic and a wealthy landowner with the largest fortune then in colonial America, was an early influential convert…

Geography

Ellicott City is in northeastern Howard County, bordered to the east and north by the Patapsco River, which forms the Baltimore County line. The Ellicott City census-designated place (CDP) extends to the northwest beyond Marriottsville Road and to the southwest beyond Centennial Road. It is bordered to the south by Columbia at Maryland Route 108 and to the southeast by Ilchester at Maryland Route 104 and Bonnie Branch Road. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 0.41%, are water. These hills lie southeast of the Historic District, which is in the Tiber River valley immediately west of the Patapsco River. The Tiber River is a small tributary of the Patapsco that forms the narrow valley followed by Main Street. Several deep stream valleys converge at this location, which increases the risk of flooding, but at the same time creates the town's heights. The heart of the Historic District is Main Street, where the oldest structures of the town stand. Smaller neighborhoods within the district include Tonge Row (also spelled Tongue Row) adjacent to Old Columbia Pike, and the West End, at the western end of Main Street. The remainder of the Ellicott City CDP ("Greater Ellicott City") includes the neighborhoods of: * Oella (Baltimore County) * Dorsey's Search * Centennial * Elioak * Turf Valley * Font Hill * Dunloggin * Waverly * Mount Hebron * Saint Johns Lane * Bethgate * Valley Mede * Bethany Manor * Normandy * Linwood * Long Gate * Taylor Village * Worthington * Brampton Hills * Montgomery Meadows * Jonestown * Ilchester * Wheatfield Historic Ellicott City sits on the Silurian or Ordovician Ellicott City Granodiorite. Outcrops can be seen lining Main Street. Several granite quarries were in operation in…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  81,307
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  64,518
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  58,726
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  58,135
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  57,595
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  55,977
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  53,003
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  51,480

Largest nearby schools

• Reservoir High
  High · Fulton · 1,837 students · 15.2:1 ratio
• Howard High
  High · Ellicott City · 1,741 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• Marriotts Ridge High
  High · Marriottsville · 1,716 students · 17:1 ratio
• Long Reach High
  High · Columbia · 1,714 students · 13.7:1 ratio
• Mount Hebron High
  High · Ellicott City · 1,621 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• Atholton High
  High · Columbia · 1,467 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• River Hill High
  High · Clarksville · 1,424 students · 17:1 ratio
• Oakland Mills High
  High · Columbia · 1,401 students · 13.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2025-10-27
  4 km E of Riverside, Maryland
• M 2.6 — 2021-06-25
  2 km SE of Woodlawn, Maryland
• M 2.81 — 2019-09-15
  5 km ESE of East Berlin, Pennsylvania
• M 3.03 — 2016-01-17
  3 km NE of Ranson, West Virginia
• M 3.6 — 2010-07-16
  5 km NNW of Barnesville, Maryland
• M 3.05 — 2010-06-03
  4 km ENE of Franklintown, Pennsylvania