Featured Neighborhood - Ellicott City

Ellicott City, Maryland, since 2005 has been ranked four times (2005,2006,2008, & 2010) as one of the top “20 Best Places to Live in the United States” by Money Magazine and CNNMoney.com. Ellicott City is amongst America’s most affluent communities and is located in the third wealthiest county in the United States.

Ellicott City is located in the North East Corner of Howard County, Maryland. To the west of Ellicott City is West Friendship, to the east is Elkridge, and south is Columbia.

Ellicott City was founded in 1772 by three brothers; John, Andrew, and Joseph Ellicott. They established Ellicott’s Mill, which become one of the largest Milling and Manufacturing communities in the East. The Ellicott brothers cultivated Ellicott City to prosper as a great farming and Manufacturing community.

The downtown area of Ellicott City is referred to as “Old Ellicott City” or “Historic Ellicott City”. Downtown Ellicott City has become a tourist attraction because of it astonishing history. Among the attraction you will find:

• B&O Railroad Museum (oldest railroad station in America),
• Ellicott City Colored School (constructed in 1880 as the first public school for black children in Howard County),
• Ellicott City Fire Station,
• Heritage Orientation Center,
• Historic Society Library Museum,
• Mt. Ida Visitor Center,
• Patapsco Female Institute (operated for more than 50 years as an elegant finishing school for young women), and;
• The Thomas Isaac Log Cabin (built 1780 by a settler of Ellicott’s Mills).