Howard County Interactive Mapper - this Website has a great deal of information on Howard County including historic sites, cemeteries, property ownership, political boundaries and much more. Various map base layers can be applied including historic aerial photographs.
Johns Hopkins Library Aerial Photographs - collection of aerial photo index mosaics provides a visual summary of the 1937 – 1938 and 1951 - 1952 aerial photography produced for the United States Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS)
1878 Hopkins Atlas - valuable maps of Howard County from after the civil war. Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries.
Distribution of Slaves in 1860 - Detailed map by county on the percentage of slaves in the United States. Made available by the US Census Bureau
Maryland iMap Topography Viewer - this is a very valuable tool to find physical land features such as changes in elevation to locate possible quarries, stream valleys, and more. You can also overlay topographic maps and other imagery.
Historic Topographic Map Viewer - United States Geological Survey
Maryland Geological Survey - a collection of historic aerial photographs from the 1930s to 1990s.
MEDUSA - Maryland's Cultural Resource Information System including the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.
Historic Aerial Viewer - A terrific site for comparing a variety of aerial photographs with topographic maps to detect changes in the landscape over the past several decades. (Requires you to disable AD blockers or register).
Newspapers.com - https://www.newspapers.com/
Genealogy Bank - https://www.genealogybank.com/
Ancestry - https://www.ancestry.com/
Family Search - https://familysearch.org/
Index of Early US Census Records for Maryland - locate test-based census records from 1790 to 1850
1798 Federal Direct Tax - The assessment was based on federal law to impose a tax on land, dwelling houses, and slaves. The records for land and buildings contain two types of lists - general and particular. Slave lists include names of owner and overseer, hundred or city, total number of slaves, number of slaves subject to tax, and number exempt. Provided by the Maryland State Archives and originals at Maryland Historical Society, 201 West Monument Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201.
MarylandLANDREC.NET - this site contains an extraordinary amount of land records and plats dating to the formation of Howard County, and Ann Arundel County before Howard County became an independent district and county. You must apply for an account which is quickly granted.
For more information see Did You Know? #13.
Original Land Patents - Frey's Emporium of Amazing Knowledge provides names, ownership, and a description of the original lands patents for what is now Howard County.
How to find Original Land Patents - the process for finding original land patents is a more difficult than it used to be. Follow these 3 basic steps for success.
Maryland Real Property Data Search - find out the current ownership records of properties.
Maryland State Archives - this site contains a variety of searchable documents by topic or name.
Legacy of Slavery in Maryland - searchable records from the Maryland State Archives
Howard County Board of Education Meeting Minutes - this resource has information from 1847 to the present via pdf files.