Baltimore County, Maryland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Baltimore County
County
The Baltimore County Courthouse
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  "BaCo", "B-More County", "The County"
Location within the U.S. state of Maryland
Maryland's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Maryland
Founded	June 30, 1659
Named for	Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore
Seat	Towson
Largest community	Dundalk
Area
• Total	682 sq mi (1,770 km2)
• Land	598 sq mi (1,550 km2)
• Water	83 sq mi (210 km2)  12%
Population  (2020)
• Total	854,535
• Density	1,253.0/sq mi (483.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts	1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th

Baltimore County is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the City of Baltimore) is part of the Northeast megalopolis, which stretches from Northern Virginia northward to Boston. Baltimore County hosts a diversified economy, with particular emphasis on education, government, and health care. As of the 2020 census, the population was 854,535.

The county is home to multiple universities, including Goucher College, Stevenson University, Towson University, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

History

The earliest known documentary record of the county politically in the Maryland State Archives in the Hall of Records in the state capital of Annapolis is January 12, 1659, when a writ was issued on behalf of the General Assembly of Maryland to its sheriff and is considered by historians to be its official year of "erection" (founding/establishment date) among the now twenty-three counties of the State, as it assumes that a certain amount of organization and appointments in the middle 17th Century had already occurred. Previously, Old Baltimore County was more known as a geographical entity than a political one, with its territorial limits consisting of most of northeastern Maryland, then the northwestern frontier of the Province and included the present day jurisdictions of Baltimore City, Cecil, and Harford Counties, as well as parts of Carroll, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Howard, and Kent Counties. In 1674, a proclamation of the Proprietor, established the then extensive boundary lines for old Baltimore County. Over the next century, various segments of the Old County were sliced off as population and settlements increased in the fringe regions so as to have a shorter distance to newly established county seats with their courts and commercial businesses.

In 1674, a portion of northeastern Baltimore County, as well as a portion of northwestern Kent County, was split off to create Cecil County. In 1748, a portion of western Baltimore County, as well as a portion of Prince George's County to the south, were split off to create Frederick County. In 1773, Harford County to the east was split off from Baltimore County. In 1837, another part of western Baltimore County was combined with a part of eastern Frederick County to create Carroll County. After the adjustment of the County's southern boundary with Anne Arundel County stated to be the upper Middle and Western Branches of the Patapsco River in XXXX, a portion of its northwestern area was designated in 1838 as the "Western District" or "Howard District" of Arundel and in 1851 was officially separated to form the new Howard County (named for Revolutionary War commander of the "Maryland Line" of the Continental Army, Col. John Eager Howard, [1752–1827]).

Before that, the Baltimore County court sessions had been held in private residences before 1674, with a small amount of documentary evidence. seat had been located in old Joppa, near the mouth of the Great Gunpowder Falls since 1712. Later by 1724, the Assembly authorized Thomas Tolley, Capt. John Taylor, Daniel Scott, Lancelot Todd and John Stokes to purchase 20 acres from a tract named "Taylor's Choice" after John Taylor who also held other parcels in the area. The Ordinance directed that the land be divided into 40 lots with streets and alleys to accompany the courthouse and jail which had already been previously erected. By 1750 had some 50 houses (including a few large two-story brick structures), a church (St. John's Anglican Parish), courthouse, 3 stone warehouses, inns, taverns, stores, a public wharf, "gallows-tree" with an "Amen Corner" with pillories and whipping posts but which is now extinct (but located northeast of the City near present-day suburban "Joppatowne" off Harford Road). When with a bit of financial pressure and paying for the cost of a new courthouse for 300 pounds sterling, dominant business, commercial and political residents of old Baltimore Town were able to get the county seat transferred to their growing and bustling port town in 1767, with the first courthouse constructed in 1768 at a new "Courthouse Square", (today on North Calvert Street, between East Lexington and East Fayette Streets), later site of the present "Battle Monument Square", constructed 1815–1822, commemorating defenses of the city and county in War of 1812 with bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy fleet in the Patapsco River, the two-day stand-off in the fortifications dug east of the city on Loudenschlager's Hill (now "Hampstead Hill" in today's Patterson Park) and the earlier Battle of North Point, in "Godly Woods" on the "Patapsco Neck" peninsula in southeastern county, commemorated ever since by Defenders' Day (a city, county and state official holiday) on September 12–14, 1814. A second city-county courthouse constructed in 1805–1809 was moved to the western side of the Square at North Calvert and East Lexington Streets. (In the future, after the City-County separation, a third, present courthouse for the increasingly complicated and more numerous judicial system for a growing metropolis, including the lower magistrates, commissioners, district and circuit courts, orphans (inheritances/wills) court, small claims court and the old Supreme Bench of Baltimore City was constructed on the entire western block of North Calvert, East Lexington, East Fayette and Saint Paul Streets from 1896 to 1900, later renamed in 1985 as the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. City Circuit Courthouse (for the famous Baltimorean and leader in the Civil Rights Movement, Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. (1911–1984), reputed to be "considered the 101st U.S. Senator").

The first county seat of Baltimore County was known today as "Old Baltimore". It was located on the Bush River on land that in 1773 became part of Harford County. In 1674, the General Assembly passed "An Act for erecting a Court-house and Prison in each County within this Province". The site of the court house and jail for Baltimore County was evidently "Old Baltimore" near the Bush River. In 1683, the General Assembly passed "An Act for Advancement of Trade" to "establish towns, ports, and places of trade, within the province." One of the towns established by the act in Baltimore County was "on Bush River, on Town Land, near the Court-House." The court house on the Bush River referenced in the 1683 Act was in all likelihood the one created by the 1674 Act. "Old Baltimore" was in existence as early as 1674, but we don't know what if anything happened on the site prior to that year.

The exact location of Old Baltimore was lost for years. It was certain that the location was somewhere on the site of the present-day Aberdeen Proving Grounds (APG), a U.S. Army weapons testing facility. APG's Cultural Resource Management Program took up the task of finding Old Baltimore. The firm of R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates (Goodwin) was contracted for the project. After Goodwin first performed historical and archival work, they coordinated their work with existing landscape features to locate the site of Old Baltimore. APG's Explosive Ordnance Disposal of Army personnel went in with Goodwin to defuse any unexploded ordnance. The field team worked from fall 1997 through winter 1998. The team dug 420 test pits, and they uncovered several artifacts including a King Charles II farthing coin, French and English gun flints, as well as glass, metal and other items. The team also uncovered a brick foundation that proved to be the remains of the tavern owned by colonist James Phillips, a prominent land holder in the area. Along with James Phillips, the other most prominent land holder in Old Baltimore was William Osbourne. Osbourne operated the ferry across the Bush River. In his article Migrations of Baltimore Town, the Rev. George Armistead Leakin related a letter he received from Dr. George I. Hays. In that letter, Dr. Hays related an event in William Osborne's life that his grandmother, born Sarah Osborne, and his great-aunt, Fanny Osborne shared with him. The account is of a raid by the Susquehannocks (a notoriously fierce war-like tribe from further north in Pennsylvania) who took William Osbourne's oldest son. Osbourne and a party were unsuccessful in their attempt to rescue the boy. The boy was never seen by Osbourne again, and it is reported that he remained broken-hearted until his death.

In 1695, the "Old Baltimore" courthouse had evidently been abandoned, for in that year the county justices advertised for a purchaser of the late courthouse at Bush River and adjoining land. Apparently a new courthouse at "Simm's Choice" on the Baltimore County side of the Little Gunpowder Falls had been under construction since 1692 and in 1700, Michael Judd, the builder of the house of justice sold the lot on which it was situated to the county justices. This move away from the Bush River area reflects the growing economic and political importance of the Gunpowder region. In the next decade of the 18th Century, the county seat would move again, this time to Joppa where it would remain until 1768, indicative that the "Simm's Choice" location was less totally desirable.

The provincial assembly attempted to create at least two other towns during the county's early existence, but neither attempt moved very far beyond the planning stage. In 1680s, the Assembly ordered that "Patapsco Town" be laid out on Sparrows Point. A jury traveled to the land and marked off town lots, but few other improvements were made on the site. Foster's Neck in the fork of the two Gunpowder Rivers ("Great" and "Little"), exhibited a similar fate. Created by a legislative act in 1706, the projected town was abandoned the following year. With a large number of plantations and small farms, some on a subsistence level,and the methods of business and commerce in this era made town life unnecessary, and without the attraction of a county courthouse, artificial ventures like "Patapsco Town" and "Foster's Neck" experienced a quick and painless death. However, a port and wharfing site such as Elk Ridge Landing on the upper Patapsco River's Western Branch, soon became very prosperous and busy in the 18th Century which was established on the "falls" of the river which was the dividing point from which below the rapids and rocks of the area, the river at that time was deep enough to permit loaded sailing merchantmen to travel upstream a considerable distance in this southern border of the County with Anne Arundel County (and future Howard County (after 1851). The Landing was a designated "port of entry" and was the terminus of several "rolling roads" on which horse or oxen-drawn hogsheads (huge barrels) packed with tobacco were wheeled down to the Landing/port to market and to be loaded on the sailing ships for London and Europe. However, with the later gradual silting-up over the decades from soil erosion and primitive poor farming cultivation methods of the upper Patapsco, southwest of the later 1729 Baltimore Town on the deeper Northwest Branch of the river, the maritime economy of the Landing wilted away and later by the next 19th Century became and important stop on the rapid new form of ground transportation, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the main north-south East Coast highway for wagons and carriages, later motor vehicles, on the Washington Boulevard or the designated U.S. Route 1 by the 1926 as the town of Elkridge was a stopping point, along with its famous Elkridge Furnace Inn and the earlier local iron ore deposits and small foundries.

The town of Baltimore became the county seat of Baltimore County in 1767. The town annexed several parcels of land and in 1851 separated from the county with the adoption of the second Maryland state constitution. Baltimore became one of the few "independent cities" in the United States, putting it on the same level with other 23 counties of the state and granting limited "home rule" powers outside the authority of the General Assembly of Maryland.

The city of Baltimore continued annexing land from the county. It added areas known as the "Precincts" on its west, north, east and southwest sides in 1816 and on the western and northern boundaries in 1888. The factory and business owners in the eastern industrial communities of Canton and Highlandtown resisted and opposed annexation, but were eventually annexed 30 years later. The last major annexation took place in 1918–1919, which again took territory from the County on all three sides (west, north and east) as well as to the south for the first time from Anne Arundel County, along the south shores of the Patapsco River.

The separation of Baltimore County from Baltimore City which it surrounds on three sides (east, north and west) occurred on July 4, 1851, as a result of the adoption of the 1851 second state constitution. Towsontown was voted in a referendum by the voting citizens as the new "county seat" several years later on February 13, 1854. A new Baltimore County Courthouse was authorized to be built facing Washington Avenue, between Chesapeake and Pennsylvania Avenues to replace the previous courthouse and governmental offices then centered for near 85 years in the City, which had been the official "county seat" since just before the American Revolution. Now surrounded by manicured flower gardens, shrubs and curved walkways, the historical landmark is built of local limestone and marble, it was completed and dedicated in 1855. Several additional wings and annexes have been added in 1910, 1923 and 1958, some done so well architecturally that they blend in together quite well as one unit. By the 1970s, the County's legal system and governmental offices had grown so much that a separate modernistic "County Courts Building" was erected to the west behind the old Courthouse with its annexes separated by a paved plaza which is used for employee/visitors relaxations and official ceremonies.

A constitutional amendment to the 1867 Maryland Constitution was approved by referendum in 1948, prohibiting any future annexations without approval from residents in affected territories. The county's population reached a maximum of 959,000 in 1950, declining ever since as growth expanded to the five counties that make up Baltimore's greater metropolitan area. There was extensive city-county hostilities during the Civil Rights Movement, and by the 1980s, the county's older inner suburbs faced increasing urban social ills. An atmosphere of cooperation emerged with the drawing of cross-border state assembly districts, organizing of regional government agencies, and increasing state assumption of powers.

The County has a number of properties and sites of local, state and national historical interest on the "National Register of Historic Places" which is maintained by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior by the "Historic Sites Act" of August 1935.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 682 square miles (1,770 km²), of which 598 square miles (1,550 km²) is land and 83 square miles (210 km²) (12%) is water. It is the third-largest county in Maryland by land area. The larger portion of the terrain is undulating, with bold hills often rising to a height of 800 feet (240 m) above tide water. The highest elevation is approximately 960 feet (290 m) above sea level, along the Pennsylvania state line near Steltz. The lowest elevation is sea level along the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay.

Much of Baltimore County is suburban in character, straddling the border between the Piedmont plateau to the northwest and, in the southern and southeastern regions of the county bordering the Patapsco River and the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic coastal plain. Northern Baltimore County is primarily rural, with a landscape of rolling hills and deciduous forests characteristic of the Southeastern mixed forests and shares the geography with its neighbors to the east and west, Carroll County and Harford County, and going north across the historic Mason–Dixon line into Adams County and York County in south central Pennsylvania.

Adjacent counties and independent city

• York County, Pennsylvania (north)
• Carroll County (west)
• Harford County (east)
• Anne Arundel County (south)
• Howard County (southwest)
• Baltimore City (south)

National protected area

• Hampton National Historic Site

State protected area

• Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area

Transportation

I-95 in eastern Baltimore County

Major roads and highways

Transit

The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) operates three rail systems—one light rail, one rapid transit, and one commuter rail—in the Baltimore area; all three systems have stations in Baltimore County. The heavy-rail Metro SubwayLink runs northwest of the city to Owings Mills; the Light RailLink system runs north of Baltimore City to Hunt Valley and south of the city through Baltimore Highlands with some routes terminating at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Maryland. Commuter MARC Train service is available in the county at Halethorpe, St. Denis, and Martin State Airport stations.

The MTA's local and regional bus services also serve Baltimore County.

Rail

Both CSX Transportation and Amtrak mainlines run through the county. Former rail lines running through the County beginning in the 19th Century were the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad (MPR) and the Northern Central Railway (previously the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad, later becoming part of the old Pennsylvania Railroad). MPR and parts of the Northern Central were abandoned. The present-day streetcar/trolley line coming north from Anne Arundel County and the International Airport through Baltimore City uses the Northern Central right-of-way south of Cockeysville and Timonium; starting slightly north of that, the right-of-way was converted into the popular hiking, biking and jogging pathway from Loch Raven to the Mason–Dixon line with Pennsylvania known now as the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail, named for a former state secretary of natural resources.

Demographics

2020 census

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, 805,029 people, 316,715 households, and 205,113 families resided there. The population density was 1,345.5 inhabitants per square mile (519.5/km²). The 335,622 housing units supported an average density of 561.0 per square mile (216.6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 64.6% white, 26.1% black or African American, 5.0% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 1.6% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 20.7% were German, 14.6% were Irish, 8.7% were English, 7.4% were Italian, 5.8% were Polish and 5.0% were American.

Of the 316,715 households, 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.2% were non-families, and 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age was 39.1 years.

The household median income was $63,959 and the median income for a family was $78,385. Males had a median income of $53,104 versus $43,316 for females. The per capita income for the county was $33,719. About 5.3% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Family support services

General counseling, trauma-based therapy, comprehensive support for victims of domestic violence, and in-home assistance for the adult disabled, are offered to Baltimore County residents by Family and Children's Services of Central Maryland (FCS), a private nonprofit organization. Some services are offered without charge; others are offered on a sliding-fee scale based on income. In addition, there are other private organizations providing various social services.

Communities

Census-designated places

Baltimore County has no incorporated municipalities located entirely within its boundaries. The following census-designated places recognized by the Census Bureau:

Unincorporated communities

Although not formally Census-Designated Places, these other communities are known locally and, in many cases, have their own post offices and are shown on roadmaps:

Economy

Among the county's major employers are MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center on the east side in Rossville, the Social Security Administration, the national headquarters of which are in Woodlawn, and The Black & Decker Corporation, in Towson. As of 2009, the county's workforce totaled 410,100, with 25% employed in the fields of education, health and human services, 10% in retailing, and less than 1% in agriculture.

Top employers

According to the county's 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the county are concentrated in the government, medical and educational fields. The only commercial entity is Erickson Living:

Education

Colleges and universities

The University System of Maryland maintains two universities in Baltimore County:

• Towson University in Towson, (founded 1866 as Maryland State Normal School in Baltimore City; renamed Maryland State Teachers College at Towson, 1935; Towson State College, 1963; Towson State University, 1976, Towson University, 1997).
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County in Catonsville, founded 1966.

The two private colleges in Baltimore County are:

• Goucher College (in Towson), founded as Women's College of Baltimore, 1885.
• Stevenson University, formerly Villa Julie College (campuses in Stevenson and Owings Mills).

Other schools with a campus in Baltimore County:

• Loyola College in Maryland (in Hunt Valley, main campus in Baltimore at North Charles Street and East Cold Spring Lane, [formerly Loyola College, founded 1852]).
• The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), with campuses in Catonsville, Essex, and Dundalk.

Public schools

All public schools in Baltimore County are operated by Baltimore County Public Schools, with the exception of the Imagine Me Charter School which opened August 2008.

Private schools

Baltimore County has a number of private schools at the K-12 grade levels. Among them are:

Notable people

• Spiro Agnew, former Vice President of the United States, Baltimore County Executive, and governor of Maryland
• Holmes Alexander (1906–1985), historian, journalist, columnist, and member of the Maryland House of Delegates
• All Time Low, punk-rock band, formed in 2003
• Peter Angelos, prominent attorney and owner, Baltimore Orioles
• Mario Dewar Barrett, famous R&B singer
• Mark Belanger, former Oriole shortstop
• Ryan Boyle, professional lacrosse player
• A. J. Burnett, MLB pitcher
• David Byrne, lead singer Talking Heads
• Tom Clancy, well-known author of political thrillers
• Kevin Clash, puppeteer most famous for Sesame Street's Elmo
• Louis S. Diggs, Baltimore County historian
• Samuel Durrance, astronaut/physicist
• Robert Ehrlich, 60th Governor of Maryland
• Jane Frank (1918–1986) artist (born in Baltimore, lived in Owings Mills and Towson most of her adult life)
• Cinder Road. Band named after a road in Lutherville
• Lee Gatch, artist (born in a small rural community near Baltimore)
• Jim Gentile, former Oriole and Dodger first baseman
• Conor Gill, professional lacrosse player
• Ira Glass, host and producer of This American Life
• Elaine Hamilton-O'Neal, abstract expressionist artist and Fulbright scholar
• William H. Harrison (USMC), brigadier general in the Marine Corps during World War II
• Emily Spencer Hayden, photographer
• Billy Hunter, former major league baseball shortstop and manager
• Foxhall P. Keene, horse breeder and Olympic gold medalist polo player
• Stacy Keibler, actress and model
• Harvey Ladew, designer of Ladew Topiary Gardens
• Bucky Lasek, famous vert ramp skateboarder, from Dundalk
• G. E. Lowman, clergyman and early radio evangelist
• Carol Mann, golfer
• Jim McKay, ABC-TV sportscaster
• John Merryman, Civil War militia officer, Maryland politician, and subject of the landmark habeas corpus case, Ex parte Merryman
• Glenn Milstead, known as the actor "Divine"
• Mo'Nique, American comedian and actress
• Jim Palmer, former Baltimore Oriole and Hall of Fame pitcher
• Michael Phelps, Olympic Gold-Medalist swimmer
• Rosa Ponselle, opera singer
• Robin Quivers, radio personality
• Ross Rawlings, pianist, composer, conductor, and music director
• Charles Carnan Ridgely (1760–1829), governor of Maryland and master of the Hampton estate
• Eliza Ridgely (1803–1867), third mistress of the Hampton estate and the subject of the well-known portrait painting Lady with a Harp
• Brooks Robinson, former Baltimore Oriole and Hall of Fame third baseman
• Mike Rowe, TV show host for Dirty Jobs
• Don Shula, Former Baltimore Colts player and later coach of the Miami Dolphins
• Dick Szymanski, former Colts player
• Pam Shriver, professional tennis player, Olympic Gold Medalist in tennis
• Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, politician and member of the Kennedy family
• Gus Triandos, former Baltimore Oriole
• Bob Turley, former major league baseball pitcher
• Johnny Unitas, former Baltimore Colt and Hall of Fame quarterback
• Nikolai Volkoff, former professional wrestler and member of the WWE Hall of Fame
• John Waters, filmmaker
• Cheryl Wheeler, singer-songwriter

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Baltimore para niños