1781, April 17-19. LaFayette's French troops encamped at Elkridge on route to Yorktown.
1791. Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) published almanac.
1791-1792. Andrew Ellicott (1754-1820), aided by Benjamin Banneker and Joseph Ellicott, surveyed federal Territory of Columbia.
1822. Savage Mill began operation.
1831. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station constructed at Ellicott's Mills, the nation's first railroad terminal.
1835. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Thomas Viaduct, first multispan masonry railroad bridge in country, crossed Patapsco River from Elkridge to Relay.
1837. Patapsco Female Institute opened at Ellicott's Mills.
1838. Howard District created from Anne Arundel County.
![[photo, Howard County Courthouse (from Court Ave.), Ellicott City, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/how/images/i002572a.jpg)
1843. Courthouse constructed at Ellicott's Mills
1848, May 7. Edwin Warfield (1848-1920), Governor of Maryland, born at “Oakdale”, near Elkridge.
1851, June 14. Constitution of 1851 (2nd State constitution) adopted; Howard District recognized as Howard County; named for John Eager Howard (1752-1827).
Howard County Courthouse (from Court Ave.), Ellicott City, Maryland, 1999. Photo by Diane P. Frese.
1861, May 5. Union Gen. Benjamin F. Butler stationed troops at Camp Essex in Elkridge to guard Thomas Viaduct only rail link from north to Washington DC.
1861, Sept. Union Patapsco Guards organized at Ellicott's Mills.
1863, June 29. Confederate cavalry under Gen. J.E.B. Stuart skirmished with Maryland militia near Cooksville.
1867. Ellicott's Mills renamed Ellicott City.
![[photo, Bollman Iron Truss Bridge at Savage Mill, 8600 Foundry St., Savage, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/museums/how/images/1198-1-980b.jpg)
1869. Wendel A. Bollman built iron truss bridge for Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Savage.
Bollman Iron Truss Bridge (semi-suspension bridge, adjacent to Savage Mill), 1869, built by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 8600 Foundry St., Savage, Maryland, January 2005. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
This bridge is an example of the bridging system invented by Wendel Bollman, Baltimore engineer, in 1850. It spans the Little Patuxent River.
1884, Dec. 12. Hesekiah Brown lynched in Ellicot City.
1885, Sept. 18. Nicholas Snowden lynched in Ellicot City.
1895, May 28. Jacob Henson lynched in Ellicot City.
1941. Women's Prison of the State of Maryland (now Maryland Correctional Institution for Women) opened at Jessup.
1946, Aug. 21-22. First Howard County Fair began at Brendel's Manor Park, just west of Ellicott City.
1959. Maximum Security Hospital (now Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center) established at Jessup.
1963, Oct. James W. Rouse announced plan to build Columbia in Howard County.
1967. Merriweather Post Pavilion opened, Columbia.
1967, June 21. Opening of Columbia, a planned community incorporating one-tenth of Howard County land area.
1968, Nov. 5. Howard County voters adopted charter form of government with a County Executive and County Council.
1969, Jan. 28. Howard County's first County Executive and County Council sworn in.
1969-1974. Omar J. Jones (Democrat), County Executive.
1970, Oct. Howard Community College opened at Columbia.
1974-1978. Edward L. Cochran (Democrat), County Executive.
1978-1986. J. Hugh Nichols (Democrat), County Executive.
1986-1990. Elizabeth Bobo (Democrat), County Executive.
1990-1998. Charles I. Ecker (Republican), County Executive.
1998-2006. James N. Robey (Democrat), County Executive.
2004, March 2. Electronic voting system used during primary elections at polling places and for absentee ballots in all counties and Baltimore City.
2006-. Kenneth S. Ulman (Democrat), County Executive.
2007, March 19. Maryland House of Correction closed at Jessup.
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