Ellicott City Historic Courthouse

The Department of Public Works hosted an information session on the Historic Circuit Courthouse on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. The County and its consultant team discussed potential concepts for the future of the Courthouse. To review the slides on the Courthouse presented at the meeting, click here. 

Howard County hosted a public meeting to discuss the potential redevelopment of the Historic Ellicott City Courthouse and associated properties on Tuesday, July 20th, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. The County and its consultant team discussed potential concepts for the courthouse redevelopment and is seeking additional public feedback on those concepts.

See the meeting presentation here.

The Ellicott City Watershed Master Plan (ECWMP) was initiated in summer of 2017 to respond to the 2016 floods and was adopted by the County Council on Dec 7, 2020. The plan is the culmination of a multi-year public outreach process and features conceptual illustrations that can serve as inspiration should specific opportunities arise over time.  

The plan concept for the courthouse complex calls for a mixed-use development at the courthouse site with an emphasis on pedestrian and open space connections. The plan recommended that potential reuse of the courthouse property should emphasize uses that are complementary—rather than competitive—to the retail mix that currently exists along Main Street.

Link to the Ellicott City Watershed Master Plan

After the creation of Howard District of Anne Arundel County in 1840, which was a prelude to the  formation of Howard County, it was necessary for the new district to establish its own courthouse,  jail, and almshouse in what would become the county seat, Ellicott's Mills. The original section of the Courthouse was designed and built in 1840-43 by Charles Timanus, who also designed the Patapsco Female Institute.

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A newer addition was added to the Courthouse in the 1950's but it was placed to the rear of the existing structure so that the original remains unchanged from the front and side views. The Courthouse is a Classic Revival structure, built of locally quarried granite and is significant not only architecturally but because it has been a repository for Howard County Government almost since the government began. "Oak Lawn" (see below) is now attached to the Howard County Courthouse by a modern addition. Oak Lawn was originally a residence, but after purchase by the County in 1937 the house became the offices of the Board of Education.

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The Old Jail was completed and accepted in December 1851, and it survives as the rear, stone wing of the existing jail. Apparently, the need for additional accommodations at the jail prompted the Commissioners to request proposals again in 1878. The building continued in use as a jail until the early 1980s, when a new detention center was opened in Jessup, and the jail continued to be used by the Sheriff’s Department until recently.

The Courthouse and the Jail House are listed in the both the Howard County Historic Sites Inventory and the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties and are located in a local historic district and a National Register District.

Howard County Courthouse Historic Inventory Form

Howard County Jail Historic Inventory Form

Oak Lawn Inventory Form (Hayden House, former Board of Ed. Building)

Ellicott City Historic District Inventory Form

Ellicott City National Register District

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