Maryland Counties

Notes:
*** 1732 - Establishment of Maryland boundary line with three lower counties of Pennsylvania, which later became Delaware.
*** Prior to 1775, several parts of present day Delaware were claimed by both Delaware and Maryland. These included Delaware's Baltimore Hundred (claimed by Worcester County), Dagsboro Hundred and part of Gumboro Hundred, Little Creek Hundred (claimed by Somerset County), part of Nanticoke Hundred, Northwest Fork and Seaford Hundreds
*** 1791 - Maryland ceded land from present day Montgomery County for the new District of Columbia.

Allegany County was formed in 1789 from Washington County. Allegany comes from the Indian word, oolikhanna, meaning "beautiful stream." After the Revolutionary War there was a constant stream of settlers moving into the western mountains. Some of those settlers were Maryland soldiers who had received land bounties. The need for a separate county became evident as the population grew. The county seat in Cumberland was established in 1789. Later attempts were made in 1839 and 1893 to move the county seat elsewhere but both failed.

 

Anne Arundel County was formed in 1650 to encompass the town of Providence, settled by nonconformist Virginia Puritans who had been offered land by the newly appointed Protestant Maryland governor William Stone. It was named for Lady Anne Arundel, wife of Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore. In October 1654, the now Puritan commissioners in Maryland changed the name to Providence, and revised the county's southern boundary with Calvert County. The 1654 act was revoked in 1656 and the name "Anne Arundel" restored, but the boundary change stuck. From 1650 until 1694 the county seat moved between Annapolis and several other towns but was finally established again in Annapolis in 1695. The boundary between Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties was not set until 1698, and later revised in 1727.

 

Baltimore City , incorporated ion 1796, was separated from Baltimore County in 1851.

 

Baltimore County was an original county and was formed by 1659/60. It was named for the barony of the Proprietor of the Maryland colony, in County Longford, Ireland. The original county encompassed the present counties of Harford, Carroll, Baltimore and Baltimore City, and parts of Cecil, Anne Arundel and Howard. The county was at first intended to include all the northern portion of Maryland on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay and stretching from the Patapsco River on the west to the Chester River on the east. The boundary between Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties was not set until 1698, and later revised in 1727. The county seat was originally located in "Old Baltimore" on the Bush River. This area is now part of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Harford County. Between 1706 and 1712, a bitter debate ensued over whether to keep the county seat in "Old Baltimore" or move it to Joppa. In 1712 the move was made to Joppa. After another bitter debate during the 1768 session, Baltimore City became the county seat. The county seat was moved again to Towson in 1854, following the separation of Baltimore City from Baltimore County.

 

Calvert County was was formed in 1654 from "Old" Charles County. It was called Patuxent County until 1658. Calvertown (Calvert Town, Calvert Towne) was the original county seat. In 1722 it was moved to "Williams' Old Field" and the current town of Prince Frederick was created.

 

Carroll County was formed in 1837 from Baltimore and Frederick counties. It includes what were in the 1800s, the North Hundred, Pipe Creek Hundred, Delaware Upper and Lower Hundred of Baltimore County and the Pipe Creek, Westminster, Unity, Burnt House, Piney Creek, and Taneytown Hundreds of Frederick County. After the Revolutionary War, the rich agricultural opportunities of the area drew settlers from Pennsylvania as well as eastern and southern Maryland. By 1829 the area had become densely settled. After eight years of various proposals and counter-proposals, one of which would have named the county "Westminster", the county was established and named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a Marylander who at his death in 1832 who was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. The county seat is Westminster.

 

Caroline County was formed in 1773 from Dorchester and Queen Anne's Counties as a result of a petition of "sundry" of the inhabitants of Dorchester and Queen Anne's Counties, who found the county seats to be too far for their convenience. The county was named for Lady Caroline Calvert, sister of the last Lord Baltimore. The original county seat was at Melvill's Warehouse, which lies between Denton and Greensboro (then Bridgetown). Because of the events surrounding the Revolutionary War, the courthouse was never built and eventually where the county seat should be became a matter of contention. The question was resolved by a referendum which resulted in a two-to-one majority in favor of Pig Point. The area was renamed Denton and has continued as the county seat.

 

Cecil County was formed in 1674 from Baltimore County, partly because Lord Baltimore wanted to protect himself against what he considered to be the encroachments of Pennsylvania. The county creation was also because the eastern and western inhabitants of Baltimore County had become more distinct, with "East Baltimore County" being used to distinguish one half from the other. The northern boundary with Pennsylvania was not finally established until the Mason and Dixon line was created a century later. The original courthouse in Oldtown was abandoned when the boundary between Kent and Cecil Counties was adjusted, in 1706, giving Kent the area lying between the Sassafras and the Chester. Oldtown was no longer anywhere near the center of Cecil County. The county seat was then moved to "Courthouse Point" at the junction of the Elk River and Broad Creek. By 1781 the center of population and activity had changed again and the county seat was moved to Charlestown. No courthouse was ever built in Charlestown howver and by 1787, the county petitioned to move the court to "Head of the Elk" (Elkton). The county was named for Cecil Calvert, the Second Lord Baltimore.

 

Charles County is an original county and was formed in 1658 to accommodate settlers along the Nanjemoy and Port Tobacco creeks. The county was named for Charles Calvert, the 3rd Lord Baltimore. In 1748 the lower part of Prince George's County was moved into Charles County, at the request of the settlers in that area. Port Tobacco is the original county seat of Charles County. A vote was taken to see if the county seat should be moved from Port Tobacco (called Charlestown until 1820). The vote did not pass, but a mysterious fire in 1892 burned the courthouse and the seat was moved to La Plata in 1895.

 

"Old" Charles County was in existence from 1650 to 1653 and comprised the present Charles county as well as parts of what are now Prince George's, Calvert, and St. Mary's counties. The county appears to have been created by Lord Baltimore in response to his friend Robert Brookes, so that Brookes could be commander of a county comprised of colonists that Brookes was transporting to Maryland. By 1653 however Baltimore had dismissed Brookes and the Act of 1650 creating the county was repealed. A new Charles Ciounty was created in 1658.

 

Dorchester County was formed in 1669 and was organized from Somerset and Talbot Counties. The County was named for the Sir Edward Sackville, Earl of Dorset, a family friend of the Calverts. The county seat is Cambridge.

 

Durham County was created in 1669 and contained what is today northern Delaware. It was bordered by the Delaware River and began from Lewes Creek near Lewes, Delaware, and extended to 40 degrees North Latitude. At the same time a second unnamed county was established to the south of Durham. The Dutch had already laid claim to this area as part of New Sweden and New Netherland, but after their defeat by England in 1664, all the territory between the Delaware and Conneticut Rivers had been granted to the King's brother, James, Duke of York, who later sold it to William Penn in 1681. Lord Baltimore contested the land grant and Durham and its unnamed sister county were created to encourage settlements. The land had already been proven valuable by a flourishing Dutch-Maryland tobacco trade. In February of 1685, King Charles II died, and the Duke of York became King James II. The territorial dispute was referred to the Board of Trade and Foreign Plantations, who predictably decided in the King's favor.

 

Frederick County was formed in 1748 from Baltimore and Prince George's counties. The county had only recently begun to experience an increase in settlers from Pennsylvania Germans traveling down the Monocacy trail and settling in the Monocacy valley. The county was named for Frederick Calvert, the sixth and last Lord Baltimore. The county seat is Frederick.

 

Garrett County was formed in 1872 from Allegany county, as the result of a referendum taken in the Fall of 1872. Multiple land surveys, each with varying results, kept the county's eastern boundaries in dispute for thirty years. It's western boundary, which is also Maryland's western boundary, was decided by the U.S. Supreme Couty in 1897. The county was named after the president of the B&O Railroad at the time, John Work Garrett. The county seat is Oakland.

 

Harford County was formed in 1773 from Baltimore County. Prior to 1768 the county seat for Baltimore had always in or near the bounds of the the present Harford County. When the county seat was moved to Baltimore City, the northern section of the county began to petition almost immediately to have something done. By 1773 the General Assembly was convinced to create a new county. The county seat was set in Harford Town (or Bush Town). Because of the Revolutionary War, no work was ever authorized to build a permanent courthouse, and at the end of the War residents were no longer in agreement as to where the county seat should be located. In 1781 a referendum was held to decide between Harford Town, Otter Point, Cross Roads (Gravelly Hill), Lower Cross Roads (Churchville), and Aquila Scott's Old Field (Bel Air). The winner was Aquila Scott's Old Field (Bel Air). A new rival however was then presented in Havre de Grace. A second referendum to decide between Bel Air and Havre de Grace clearly identified Bel Air as the choice. The county was named for Henry Harford, last Proprietary of Maryland.

 

Howard County was formed in 1851 from the Howard District of Anne Arundel County. The area composing the present Howard County had been separated from Anne Arundel County in 1698 and made part of Baltimore County. Then in 1727, this action was reversed and the same area, or approximately the same area, was returned to Anne Arundel County. Around the time of the Revolutionary War, mills sprung up in the area, attacted by the ready water power from the Falls of the Patapsco. The incoming mills, with the resulting new roads and the presence of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, drew people to the area and the local population increased. The demand grew for a more convenient county seat than Annapolis. In 1838 this section of Anne Arundel County was set apart and called Howard District after the Revolutionary soldier and fifth governor of Maryland, John Eager Howard. The effect was to create a new county with normal county government seated at Ellicott's Mills (Ellicott City), except that it had no right to representation in the General Assembly. It was not until 1850 that the county was created in its own right.

 

Kent County was formed in either 1638 or 1642. The county, originally called Isle of Kent County, was named for the English county of the same name. In 1631 William Claiborne was granted a license by Charles I to trade on the shores of the Chesapeake. Soon after a trading settlement was established on Kent Island. The later Maryland grant to Lord Baltimore however included the same territory claimed by William Claiborne. Claiborne defended his claim both in the courts (which decided in Lord Baltimore's favor in 1638)and with force. St. Mary's County was originally divided into hundreds and for a year or two the Isle of Kent, representing all of the settled area of the Eastern Shore, was designated as one of the hundreds of St. Mary's. In 1638, Maryland appointed a sheriff for the Isle of Kent although Claiborne still occupied and defended the Island, so the action had no real effect. Technically that also marked the creation of Kent County, but there is no evidence that any real county government was created until the appointment of county Commissioners in 1642.

In 1659 the northern section (present Cecil County) was joined to Baltimore County, although the boundary between Cecil and Kent counties was not set until 1707. In 1661 or 1662 Talbot County was created from southern Kent County, followed by some additional boundary changes in 1671 between the two. In 1695, Kent Island was moved from Kent County to Talbot County (and later moved again to Queen Anne's County). The county seat was moved to Chestertown in 1696.

 

Montgomery County was formed in 1776 when Frederick County was divided into thirds: the center part remained Frederick and the northern and southern districts were named for the two most prominent heroes of the time, George Washington and Richard Montgomery. The county seat is Rockville. During Revolutionary times, Rockville was known as Hungerford’s Tavern, the name of its most familiar landmark. Hungerford’s Tavern became the county seat and gradually became known as Montgomery Court House. In 1801, the Maryland General Assembly changed the name of the town to Rockville because of its location close to Rock Creek.

 

Patuxent County - see Calvert County

 

Potomac County - see St. Mary's County

 

Prince George's County was formed in 1696 from Calvert and Charles counties. The earliest settlers in the area had congregated on the Patuxent side of the county in the vicinity of Mataponi Creek. The county was named for Prince George of Denmark. The county seat is Upper Marlboro.

 

Providence County - see Anne Arundel County

 

Queen Anne's County was formed in 1706 from Talbot County. The area of present day Queen Anne's county was originally Kent County from 1632 through 1662. Except for Kent Island, the area then became part of Talbot County in 1661 or 1662. Originally called "Brooke's Forest" by Capt.John Smith in 1608, the county was named for Queen Anne who had ascended the throne a few years earlier. By 1704, when a petition for a new county was presented to the General Assembly, settlements had spread over the entire Eastern Shore, making the creation of more counties necessary. At the time of its creation, the Eastern Shore was divided inyo Cecil, Kent, Talbot, Dorchester, and Somerset counties, the latter two embracing all the territory south of the Choptank while the first four covered the territory north of the Choptank. The county seat was Queenstown from 1706 to 1784. It was then moved to Centreville.

 

St. Mary's County was the first county in Maryland and was formed in 1637. Called Potomac County by the Puritan government of 1654-1656, thinking the name sounded too Roman Catholic, it took its present name from St. Mary's City. The city had been founded by English settlers on the Ark and Dove who landed in Maryland on March 25 (1634), the day of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The county seat was originally St. Mary's City but in 1710 was moved to Leonardtown.

 

Somerset County was formed in 1666. It was named for Mary Somerset, sister-in-law of Cecilius Calvert, the Second Lord Baltimore. Early settlements had been made around 1660 in both in this area of Maryland and on Virginia's eastern shore. By 1663 boundary disputes became more frequent and in 1665 a joint Maryland/Virginia commission was established to set the boundary. The creation of the county was also one of several attempts by Maryland to solidify its claim to the Eastern Shore against competing claims by Delaware and the Duke of York, since most of the growth from settlers moving westward from Delaware. The county seat is Princess Anne.

 

Talbot County was formed by 1661/1662 although the exact date is not known. On July 5, 1652, a treaty with the Susquehanna Indians granted to white settlers the right of settlement along both sides of the Bay to the Patuxent on the western shore and the Choptank on the eastern. The reduced threat of Indian attacks stimulated settlements along the shores of the Choptank, Chester, and and other river. Beginning in 1658 settlers, and land speculators, began having surveys made of tracts along the St. Michael's River (Miles River). In 1659 land patents started being granted along the Tred Avon and other areas. After the creation of the county, the number of settlers increased dramatically and by the 1670's had about 3,000 settlers. As in so many other areas, tobacco was the primary crop. According to tradition the county was named for Grace Talbot, daughter of George, the First Lord Baltimore. In 1671 there was a boundary change between Talbot and Kent counties. In 1695, Kent Island was moved from Kent County to Talbot County (and later to Queen Anne's County). The county seat is Easton.

 

Washington County was formed in 1776 when Frederick County was divided into thirds: the center part remained Frederick and the northern and southern districts were named for the two most prominent heroes of the time, George Washington and Richard Montgomery. The county seat is Hagerstown.

 

Wicomico County was formed in 1867. It was named after the Wicomico River which flows through it, and which is an Indian name supposedly referring to an Indian town near the banks, or meaning "A pleasant place to live." The county seat is Salisbury.

 

Worcester County (new) was formed in 1742 and was organized from Somerset County. It was named after the Earl of Worcester. The county seat is Snow Hill.

 

Worcester County (old) was created in 1672 and included practically all of the territory under dispute between Lord Baltimore and the Duke of York (this was prior to the grant later given to William Penn). It also included most of the earlier Durham County.