History:
Harford County was formed in 1773 from the eastern part of Baltimore County. It contains Tudor Hall, birthplace of Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Harford County also hosted the signers of the
Bush Declaration, a precursor document to the American Revolution.
The county was named for Henry Harford (ca. 1759-1834), illegitimate son of Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron
Baltimore. Harford was the last Proprietary Governor of Maryland, but did not inherit his
father's title because of his illegitimacy.
Havre de Grace, an incorporated city in Harford County, was once under consideration to be the capital of the United States rather than Washington, D.C.. It was favored for its strategic location at the
top of the Chesapeake Bay; this location would facilitate trade while being secure in time of
war. Today, the waterways around Havre de Grace have been silted, one of the primary environmental issues of Harford County.
Geography:
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 527
square miles (1,364 km²), of which, 440
square miles (1,140 km²) of it is land and
86 square miles (224 km²) of it (16.40%) is
water.
The terrain rises in elevation and relief from south to north, with flat areas south of U.S. Route 40. The highest elevation, at 805
ft., is located near the Pennsylvania border in the county's northwestern corner. The lowest elevation is sea level along the Chesapeake Bay.
It pretty much sucks.