HCHS Research Services

Please consider becoming a member of the Howard County Historical Society. Research is FREE with only a small fee for copies and postage.

Become a Member

On-site Research Services

The Howard County Historical Society (HCHS) encourages researchers to visit the HCHS Research Library located on the 2nd floor of Miller Branch Library, 9421 Frederick Rd., Ellicott City, MD.

Visiting Researchers will be charged according to the following fee schedule:

Please note that the first 1/2 hour is free for non-HCHS members and research is free for HCHS members. Patrons will be notified when fees apply.

Research Consultation Non-Member Fee Member Fee
First 1/2 Hour Free Free
30 minutes – 1 hour $10.00 per hour Free
1 hour + $25.00 per hour Free
Copies
Black & White Copies $0.20 Per Copy Free (up to 5 copies)
Color Copies $0.75 Per Copy $0.75 Per Copy
Marriage Licenses
Copies $5.00 Per Copy Free
Mailed Copies $10.00 Per Copy $5.00 Per Copy

RESEARCH SERVICES

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EXTERNAL RESEARCH LINKS

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OUR INTERNAL SEARCHABLE DATABASES

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Did You Know?
Hurricane Agnes swept through Howard County causing severe flooding that submerged much of Ellicott City in 1972.

Offsite Research Services

Please mail all requests with payment to:

Howard County Historical Society
RESEARCH REQUEST
9421 Frederick Road
Ellicott City, MD 21042

Basic Search Request (By Mail)
Our volunteers and staff are happy to research specific inquiries using HCHS’s collection. The charge for an one-hour search is $25.00 (Free for HCHS members). Each nonmember receives 30 minutes of free research before HCHS charges $25.00/hour of research pro-rated. Copies and postage are extra. Payment is made for services rendered. The Howard County Historical Society cannot guarantee successful results for each search.

To request a Basic Search for an historical business, house, or property, please fill out the Historical Site Research Order Form. If you have a request that pertains to genealogy, please fill out the Genealogy Research Order Form. Provide as much information on the appropriate form as possible then print it out and mail it with your check made payable to the Howard County Historical Society. You can expect a reply within six weeks.

Advanced Search (By Mail)
You will be notified if enough material exists to conduct an Advanced Search. An Advanced Search is an $10.00 per hour (Free for HCHS members) plus copies/scans, and will only be done with your consent. If an Advanced Search is conducted, the results will be returned with an invoice for the remaining balance.
Marriage License Request (By Mail)
The Howard County Historical Society collection contains over 38,000 ministers’ returns of marriage licenses, unused returned marriage license applications, and courthouse ledgers of marriages performed in Howard County, Maryland, between 1860 and 1939. There was no waiting period in Howard County and over 90 percent of the marriages were of out-of-county couples.

In addition to what is displayed on the index, a license sometimes contains state/country of birth, race, previous marriage status, occupations, name and title of minister, town of marriage, and consenting parents if the groom was under age 21 or the bride was under age 18.

To receive the full information contained on the document plus a color copy of the document, first locate the entry in the link http://hchsmdsearch.org . Next, if the entry is there, fill in the information on the Marriage License Request form. Mail the form along with a check or money order to the Howard County Historical Society.

Document Request (By Mail)
If you are simply requesting copies of specific pages or materials, please indicate the sources(s) and page number(s) needed. There is a $1.00 fee for each search and a 25¢ fee for each B&W copy made. The cost is 75¢ for each color copy or 50¢ for scans. Please specific color, B&W, or scan (PDF or 300dpi JPEG) on your request. Please print and the complete the Document Request form and mail it with your payment the Howard County Historical Society.

To Email Research Requests

Please send your request to the following email. You will be contacted about payment information:
info@hchsmd.org