Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place, along with being the county seat of local government in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. The population was 65,834 at the U.S. Decennial Census of 2010. It is the county seat of Howard County. Founded in 1772, the town features the B. & O. Railroad Museum's branch at the Ellicott City Station, built in 1830, and the first terminus of the initial line then constructed, and a downtown historic district in the pictureseque stream valley of the upper Western Branch of the Patapsco River, which is a very popular destination among antiques shoppers, and historical tourists with restaurants, eclectic boutique shops, coffee shops, a tea room and many historic sites. As of the 2000 U.S.