"West of Baltimore" Top 5 Page for this destination Ellicott City by grandmaR

Our daughter's back yard in the spring

Ellicott Mills was originally settled by three Quaker brothers named Ellicott from PA who came to this area and established a grist mill on the Patapsco River in 1772. The community is built on seven hills in the tradition of ancient Rome. They are named Capitoline, Rock , Strawberry, Patapsco, Mulligan, Dutch, and Quaker Hill. In 1830, the B&O Railroad built a train station on land donated by the Ellicotts.

In 1867, the town was chartered and changed the name to Ellicott City. The Howard County government declared Ellicott City a Historic District in 1974. There is a very short walking tour of the town.

Across the street from my daughter's house

I've been to Ellicott City a couple of times, but generally I try to avoid going into the historic part of town as it is a bottleneck. Route 40 and then I-70 bypass Ellicott City.

But in the spring of 2002, my daughter moved back to Maryland from her job exchange in England and bought a house in Ellicott City - not in the Historic District of course, but out in the suburbs.