Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 75,947 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous unincorporated county seat in the country.
Main Street in Historic Ellicott City
Thomas Isaac log cabin. Named after a 19th-century owner, the cabin was believed to have been built circa 1780 by an early Ellicott's Mills settler. This historic building has been closed and relocated while post-flood repairs on Main Street continue.
B&O Railroad Bridge over Main Street.
Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan tours Ellicott City, viewing damage left by the 2016 floods, accompanied by county executive Allan Kittleman.
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in the U.S. state of Vermont and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions. County towns usually serve a similar function in Ireland, Jamaica, and the United Kingdom.
The old courthouse in Centreville, Maryland, the county seat of Queen Anne's County, Maryland, U.S.
Miaoli, the county seat of Miaoli County in Taiwan
Allentown, Pennsylvania, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and county seat of Lehigh County
Many county seats in the United States feature a historic courthouse, such as this one in Renville County, Minnesota.
