Facilities Maintained by Recreation & Parks

2400 MD 97, Cooksville, MD 21723

410-313-4840

9411 Whiskey Bottom Rd, Laurel, MD 20723

410-313-0390

3000 Milltowne Dr, Ellicott City, MD 21043

410-313-2764

6692 Cedar Lane Columbia, MD 21044

410-313-0400

3300 Norberts Way, Ellicott City, MD 21042

410-313-2637

Open based on programs.

Perfect for larger events with a banquet capacity of 200 people. Room dividers can partition the facility into three areas.

Rentals 

To inquire about rental availability or for more information, contact Joynel Young, 410-313-2637 or jkyoung@howardcountymd.gov.

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3711 Maryland Avenue, Ellicott City, MD 21043

410-313-1945

The Baltimore and Ohio Ellicott City Station Museum is the oldest railroad station in America!

The B&O Ellicott City Station Museum is the terminus of the first 13 miles of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Named for its point of origin, Baltimore, and its intended destination, the Ohio River, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was founded in 1827 as the first common carrier railroad in the United States.

Passenger services to Ellicott City (then Ellicott’s Mills) began in May 1830. Originally, horse-drawn rail cars were used to travel between Baltimore and Ellicott’s Mills. In August 1830, the B&O demonstrated the first American-built steam locomotive, known as the Tom Thumb, at Ellicott's Mills.

Built in 1831, The Ellicott City station was originally designed as a freight depot. In 1857, the station was renovated to accommodate passengers. Although passenger service to Ellicott City ended in 1949, freight service continued until 1972. The station was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968.

Following its closure in 1972, the station was restored by Historic Ellicott City, Inc. Today, the Ellicott City Station Museum is managed by the Historic and Cultural Resources Section of the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks. 

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6555 Belmont Woods Road, Elkridge, MD 21075

410-313-0200 

Belmont Manor and Historic Park now hosts an array of events. These include weddings, rehearsals dinners, business meetings, holiday parties, anniversary parties, retirement parties, quinceaneras, bat/bar mitzvahs, retreats and bridal showers. Create your perfect event or take advantage of our special events and recreational programs.

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8650 Foundry Street, Savage, MD 20763

8360 Court Ave, Ellicott City, MD 21043

Monday-Friday: 9am-5pm
Saturday: closed
Sunday: closed

Main Phone: 410-313-4025

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8683 Frederick Road, Ellicott City, MD 21043

410-313-0422

Tours are available from 1-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays from May through mid November. It closes the week before Thanksgiving each year. 

Opened in 1880, the Ellicott City Colored School fulfilled an 1879 Maryland State law requiring that counties provide educational facilities for African American children. The school — the first to be built with county funds — operated until 1953, before the landmark Supreme Court Case Brown vs. Board of Education called for the integration of public schools. 

In stark contrast with the lavish Patapsco Female Institute, the one-room structure lacked running water, electricity or central heating. In 1950, after 14 years of parents petitioning the school board, a well was dug and a water pump installed outside of the building. 

The Ellicott City Colored School closed its doors in 1953. The next school year, students attended the newly constructed Fells Lane Elementary School, which operated until the end of school segregation in 1965.

The school house went largely unused except as storage for Roger Carter's Bus Service. By 1989 the building was neglected and overgrown with vines and branches, sitting largely forgotten and hidden on the hillside. When researcher Beulah "Meach" Buckner was searching for African American graves for a project with the Central Maryland Chapter Afro-American Historical and Geneaological Society, she came across the ruins of the school. After researching the building, she strongly felt the site needed to be restored and successfully campaigned for its restoration. In 1995, the Department of Recreation and Parks purchased the property and began the preservation process.  

The renovated building was dedicated as a museum in 2002 and currently is furnished to represent an early 1900s rural classroom. Exhibits highlighting other segregated schools in Howard County and the history of local African Americans can be seen.

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3829 Church Road, Ellicott City, MD 21043

410-313-0422

Closed for renovations until further notice. 

Located in the heart of the historic district, the Firehouse Museum explores the unique challenges of fighting fire in late 19th and early 20th century Ellicott City.  The city’s topography and architecture — steep, sloping streets tightly lined with adjoined wooden buildings — provided prime conditions for the spread of fire while inhibiting the transport of water. In 1889, a group of volunteers constructed the firehouse at a cost of $500 dollars. Conveniently situated on a small, triangular lot, the original building was simply designed to house the hand-drawn and horse-drawn fire equipment. It operated until 1924, when the firehouse relocated to 8320 Main Street, and moved again in 1937 to the building known today as the Wine Bin. In 1995, the station moved to its current location on Route 103. 

The building served as municipal office and a meeting hall from 1906-1935 and later as a reading room for the Howard County Library. With decline in use, the library was closed November 15, 1988.

The exterior has since been restored to its original design, and the interior refurbished. This was accomplished through the cooperative efforts of former County Executive Elizabeth Bobo, the Howard County Employment and Training Center, and the Home Builders Association of Maryland. The site was dedicated as a museum in 1991. 

8045 Harriet Tubman Ln, Columbia, MD 21044

410-313-0860

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3655 Church Road, Ellicott City, MD 21043

410-313-0422

The Patapsco Female Institute is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4pm, from May through mid November, weather permitting.

Perched at Ellicott City’s highest point, the Patapsco Female Institute offered a revolutionary curriculum to young women from 1837-1891. The school earned a national reputation for its inclusion of botany, chemistry, and mathematics.

Since the school’s closure circa 1891, the site lived other lives as a summer resort hotel, a private residence, the Hilltop Theatre (Maryland's first summer stock theater), and a nursing home first known as the Brennan Convalescent Home and later Highland Manor. A long period of vacancy with an absentee owner led to the building's gradual deterioration. The Friends of the Patapsco Female Institute formed in 1965 as a grassroots organization to save the site from further decay. Thanks to their efforts and partnership with Howard County, the ruins of this grand example of Greek-revival architecture were stabilized and restored in 1995.

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6109 Rockburn Branch Park Road, Elkridge, MD 21227

410-313-4682

How to rent: Call 410-313-4682, 8am-4:30pm, M-F

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2300 Waverly Mansion Drive, Marriottsville, MD 21104

410-313-0200

Waverly is now booking rentals! Call 410 313 0200 or email WaverlyMD@howardcountymd.gov for more details.

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8394 Main Street, Ellicott City, MD 21043

410-313-0422

The Thomas Isaac Log Cabin is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4pm May through mid November, weather permitting. Open during the first Friday of December each year (in the evening) for the annual Midnight Madness event.

Recent scholarship conducted by the local nonprofit Howard County Lynching Truth and Reconciliation, Inc., has revealed the log home was likely built by Levi Gillis in 1851. The structure was originally located on Merryman St., an African American neighborhood at the time. Thomas Isaac purchased the home from Gillis in 1860.

In the 1980s, the cabin was dismantled and rebuilt at the intersection of Main Street and Ellicott Mills Drive. After the 2018 flash flood, the cabin was temporarily moved to Parking Lot F. After the construction of a new foundation, the cabin has been returned to its previous location at the intersection of Main Street and Ellicott Mills Drive. 

The Historic Cultural Recourses is bringing our field trips to your classroom! 
We have optimized our popular on-site field trip for the classroom! Heritage program staff will visit your classroom and take students on a tour of Ellicott City with hands-on activities. Handle artifacts from the Patapsco Female Institute and learn about life during the Victorian era, and take a virtual tour of Main Street to the Thomas Isaac Log Cabin, the Firehouse Museum, and the B&O Ellicott City Station Museum!  Please contact Kelly Palich for pricing and more information: 410-313-0423 or kpalich@howardcountymd.gov.

10000 Route 108, Ellicott City, MD 21042
410-313-7303
Seasonal/weather dependent 

Kayaks, paddleboats, and canoe rentals at Centennial Park open annually in late spring. Call the recorded line for the most current information: 410-313-7303.

12975 Hall Shop Road, Highland, MD 20777

Inclement Weather/Program Status Information: 410-313-4451

How to rent: Call 410-313-4682, 8am-4:30pm, M-F or online.