Ellicott City... aka Ellicott's Mills

Ellicott City is about six miles north of Columbia, Maryland (where we live!) and is a place I go frequently to shop. It's where the bigger Target,  Barnes and Noble and the car dealership where I take my car is located. It's a big city with a charming history and beautiful historical area.

It seems that every little boy (and even some who are not-so-little!) loves playing with trains. I'm not sure what the fascination is with watching a string of cars go round and round and round a track... but I did enjoy learning some railroad history at the B&O Railroad Museum located in the railroad station in Ellicott City- or Ellicott's Mills as it was known until 1867. Built in 1831, it is the oldest surviving railroad station in America and was the terminus of the B&O's first 13 miles of commercial track.

Scheduled passenger service started in 1830 (before the station was built) with horse-drawn railroad cars between Baltimore and Ellicott's Mills. Passenger service ended in 1949 but freight service continued until 1972 when it was discontinued due to devastation from Hurricane Agnes.

Tracks and a clock and a caboose... oh my!

The clock is located on Main Street just outside the station and was used as the "official time" for the railroad. Down the tracks from the station house is an old caboose- I'm standing by it and Richard is sitting in it. The seats are narrow and small without much leg room- kind of like US Airways flights! The platform to the tracks, on the back side of the station house, is lined with wooden benches and looks very old-fashioned.

Every boy's delight- a model train!

The old Freight House now houses a working HO model scale train layout of the first 13 miles of the B&O Railroad- from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills. The 40-foot display was enchanting to old and young alike as we watched the trains go round and round and round!

Bridge over the beautiful Patapsco River in Ellicott City

The Patapsco River ambles 52 miles from its headwaters in central Maryland through Ellicott City to its mouth on the western edge of the Chesapeake Bay. It has been used for fishing, for transportation and for power (for the many mills located along its banks). Most of the time it is as peaceful as it looks in this picture but there have been several major floods through the centuries, most notably the Flood of 1868 and flooding due to Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

The signs on the post by the railroad bridge, which is above the river bridge in the previous picture and which we are standing on, indicate flood stages above the river (below us) from various floods. 

I cannot imagine the terror the Flood of 1868 caused. The river reached a maximum height of 40 feet with the water level rising 5 feet in just 10 minutes. There were quite a few casualties and several deaths. The cause? A severe rainstorm causing flash flooding along the Atlantic slope.  What impressed me, though, is the resilience of the people of Ellicott City- to rebuild their town and their lives. 

"I'm forever blowing bubbles..."

We stopped to watch this street performer for awhile. He was able to make humongous bubbles as well as teeny tiny ones. Kids of all ages were fascinated... and most tried to pop them or catch them. It was a fun way to end our excursion to Ellicott City.