Howard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,529. Since there are no incorporated municipalities, there is no incorporated county seat either. Therefore, its county seat is the unincorporated community of Ellicott City. Howard County is part of the larger Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. The county is part of the Central Maryland region of the state.
Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 census, it is the second most populous community in Maryland after Baltimore. Columbia, located nearly halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area and is tracked by the United States Census Bureau as a census-designated place. Columbia proper consists only of territory governed by the Columbia Association, but larger areas are included under its name by the Census Bureau and the United States Postal Service. These include several other communities which predate Columbia, including Simpsonville, Atholton, and in the case of the Census, part of Clarksville.
Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 75,947 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous unincorporated county seat in the country.
Howard County General Hospital is a 225-bed, not-for-profit health care provider located in Columbia, Maryland.
Doughoregan Manor is a plantation house and estate located on Manor Lane west of Ellicott City, Maryland, United States. Established in the early 18th century as the seat of Maryland's prominent Carroll family, it was home to Founding Father Charles Carroll, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, during the late 18th century. A portion of the estate, including the main house, was designated a National Historic Landmark on November 11, 1971. It remains in the Carroll family as a private working farm.
The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is the school district that manages and runs the public schools of Howard County, Maryland. It operates under the supervision of an elected, eight-member Board of Education. Jolene Mosley is the chair of the board. William J. Barnes has served as the superintendent since July 1, 2024.
James Clark Jr. was the president of the Maryland State Senate from 1979 to 1983.
Comprehensive planning is an ordered process that determines community goals and aspirations in terms of community development. The end product is called a comprehensive plan, also known as a general plan, or master plan. This resulting document expresses and regulates public policies on transportation, utilities, land use, recreation, and housing. Comprehensive plans typically encompass large geographical areas, a broad range of topics, and cover a long-term time horizon. The term comprehensive plan is most often used by urban planners in the United States.
Fulton is a census-designated place located in southern Howard County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,049.
Transferable development rights (TDR) is a method by which developers can purchase the development rights of certain parcels within a designated "sending district" and transfer the rights to another "receiving district" to increase the density of their new development. The underlying legal concept of a transfer of development rights programme is the notion that all land has a bundle of property rights. It is used for controlling land use to complement land-use planning and zoning for more effective urban growth management and land conservation.
Woodlawn, is a historic slave plantation located at Columbia, Howard County, Maryland. It is a two-story, stuccoed stone house built in 1840 with wood frame portions constructed about 1785. It was part of a 200-acre farm divided from larger parcels patented by the Dorsey family. The design reflects the transition between the Greek Revival and Italianate architecture styles. The home is associated with Henry Howard Owings, a prominent Howard County landowner and farmer, who also served as a judge of the Orphan's Court for Howard County. Owings purchased the property in 1858 and died at Woodlawn in 1869. The former tobacco farm produced corn, oats, hay, and pork. The majority of the property surrounding Woodland and its slave quarters were subdivided by 1966 and purchased by Howard Research and Development for the planned community development Columbia, Maryland, leaving only 5 acres surrounded by multiple lots intended for development of an Oakland Ridge industrial center and equestrian center. The summer kitchen, smokehouse, corn crib and stable built about 1830 have been replaced by a parking lot.
The Middle Patuxent Environmental Area (MPEA) is a 1,021-acre (4.13 km2) wildlife area in Clarksville, Maryland and operated by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks. It is located next to the River Hill village in the town of Columbia, Maryland, in the United States. The MPEA was created in 1996 for educational, research, and recreational purposes.
Charles E. Miller (1902–1979) was an American politician and businessman in Howard County, Maryland
The David Force Natural Resource Area is a 221-acre (89 ha) wildlife area in Ellicott City, Maryland. It is located between Route 70 and 40 adjacent to the Turf Valley development in Howard County, Maryland, and operated by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks.
Turf Valley is an unincorporated community in Ellicott City, Maryland, United States. The resort is situated in a wedge between Route 70 and U.S. Route 40, with the David Force Natural Resource Area along the northern border.
The Alpha Ridge Landfill is a municipal solid waste landfill located in Marriottsville, Maryland, once known as the postal town of Alpha, Maryland.
The Duvall Farm was a historic farm located in North Laurel, Howard County, Maryland, United States, now the site of Coastal Sunbelt Produce.
Maple Lawn is a land development in Fulton, Maryland, United States.
Edwin Warfield III was a Maryland State Delegate from Howard County, Maryland. Warfield was born at his family manor Oakdale, where his grandfather lived as Governor of Maryland. Warfield attended the Gilman School, then graduated in 1942 from the Kent School in Connecticut. He later attended Cornell University and the University of Maryland where he earned a B.S. in Agriculture.
A proposed Union Mills Reservoir represents a half century of efforts by the Commissioners of the Carroll County, Maryland, to build variations on a "dam" or "reservoir" near Union Mills, Maryland, on the Big Pipe Creek, defeated by a petition led by the Carroll County Taxpayers' Committee in the 1970s. The plan may be alive among some county officials but may also be postponed "indefinitely." Land threatened by the reservoir includes the Whittaker Chambers Farm, also known as the Pipe Creek Farm, a National Historic Landmark as well as protected under the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF).
