Carroll County

Carroll County takes its name from Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), Revolutionary War statesman and a Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence. The county is bordered to the north by the Mason-Dixon line and Pennsylvania, the east by Baltimore County, the south by Howard County, and the west by Frederick County. It was erected from Baltimore and Frederick Counties by Chapter 256, Acts of 1835, and confirmed by Chapter 19, Acts of 1836, which was passed on January 19, 1837.

Carroll County contains some of the state's best farmland, and agribusiness continues to be a mainstay in the county's economy. Among the major farm products produced in the county are barley, soybeans, eggs, poultry, and livestock. The rolling countryside affords pleasant vistas of wooded hills, grassy pastures, cultivated fields, and neat farm buildings.

Among the sights popular with visitors are the Carroll County Farm Museum, a 140 acre farm house and outbuildings with displays of antique farm equipment and demonstrations of country crafts; the Shriver Homestead, furnished with nineteenth century pieces original to the house; and Western Maryland College, a liberal arts school which has been coeducational since its founding in 1867. Terra Rubra, the birthplace of Francis Scott Key, author of The Star Spangled Banner, is also located here.