Maryland County Resources
This entry was originally written by Roger D. Joslyn, CG, FUGA, FGBS, FASG for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Maryland has twenty-three counties and the city of Baltimore, which is not under county jurisdiction. At the courthouses are recorded transfers of land, estates, and other records. The first column below indicates the map coordinate. In the second column is the name of the county with the mailing address of the county circuit court clerk, where deeds, mortgages, vital records, divorces, naturalizations, and other matters are recorded. In the third column is the date the county was created and the name or names of the parent county or counties. The date the earliest land deed was recorded appears in the fourth column. In the last column is the date when Orphans' Court records begin, followed by the mailing address of that court's clerk and the register of wills, if different from the circuit court clerk. While some records are available in the counties, most original and/or microfilm copies of land, estate, vital, and court records have been transferred to the Maryland State Archives. As new county records are created, they will continue to be microfilmed and sent to the state archives. Other county offices not included below may have different mailing addresses.
Map | County | Circuit Court | Date Formed | Parent County(ies) | Deeds | Orphans' Court | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
B2 | Allegany | 30 Washington St., Cumberland 21502 | 1789 | Washington | 1791 | 1790 | ||||
A courthouse fire in 1893 destroyed marriage records for 1791'1847 and naturalizations for 1892'1893. | ||||||||||
G4 | Anne Arundel | P. O. Box 2395, Annapolis 21404-2395 | 1650 | original | 1653 | 1777 7 Church Cir., Annapolis 21401-2368 | ||||
The courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1704, with the loss of all but three court record volumes. Deeds before 1699 were lost, but there are five volumes of re-recorded deeds. | ||||||||||
G2 | Baltimore | 401 Bosley Ave., Towson 21204-4403 | by 1659/60 | original | 1661 | 1666 | ||||
G2 | Baltimore City | Land Records Division, 100 N. Calvert St., Rm. 610, Baltimore 21202-3417 | 1851 | Baltimore Co. | 1851 | 1851 111 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21202 | ||||
G5 | Calvert | 175 Main St., Prince Frederick 20678 | 1654 | original | 1882 | 1882 | ||||
Prince Frederick 20678. Most records were destroyed when the courthouse burned in 1882, but some deeds dating back to 1840 were re-recorded. Abstracts of deeds sent to Annapolis beginning in 1784 and provincial court deeds/land office records also make up for some of the destroyed records. | ||||||||||
J4 | Caroline | 109 Market St., P. O. Box 356, Denton 21629-0356 | 1773 | Dorchester/ Queen Anne's | 1774 | 1774 109 Market St., P. O. Box 416, Denton 21629-0416 | ||||
F2 | Carroll | 55 N. Court St., Rm. G-8, P. O. Box 190, Westminster 21157-0190 | 1837 | Baltimore/ Frederick | 1837 | 1837 55 N. Court St., Rm. 104, Westminster 21157 | ||||
Most early papers of the county court have been lost. | ||||||||||
J2 | Cecil | 129 East Main St., Elkton 21921 | 1674 | Baltimore | 1674 | 1675 | ||||
Many early court records have disappeared. | ||||||||||
F6 | Charles | 200 Charles St., P. O. Box 3060, La Plata 20646-3060 | 1658 | original | 1658 | 1665 5200 Charles St., P. O. Box 3080, La Plata 20646-3080 | ||||
H6 | Dorchester | 206 High St., P. O. Box 583, Cambridge 21613-0583 | 1669 | Somerset/ Talbot | 1669 | 1852 206 High St., Cambridge 21613 | ||||
There are gaps in the court records. Some were probably lost in a fire in 1852. | ||||||||||
E2 | Frederick | 100 W. Patrick St., Frederick 21701 | 1748 | Baltimore/ Prince George's | 1748 | 1751 | ||||
There were two major fires, but no major loss of records. | ||||||||||
A2 | Garrett | 203 S. 4th St., P. O. Box 447, Oakland 21550-0447 | 1872 | Allegany | 1873 | 1872 313 E. Alder St., Rm. 103, Oakland 21550 | ||||
H2 | Harford | 20 West Cortland St., Bel Air 21014 | 1773 | Baltimore | 1773 | 1774 | ||||
Some records were destroyed in a fire in 1858. | ||||||||||
F3 | Howard | 8360 Court Ave., Ellicott City 21043 | 1850 | Anne Arundel | 1839 | 1840 | ||||
The county was formed in 1838 as Howard District of Anne Arundel Co., but did not gain full county status until 1850. | ||||||||||
J3 | Kent | 103 North Cross St., Chestertown 21620-1511 | by 1642 | original | 1648 | 1674 | ||||
A courthouse fire in 1720 destroyed some records. | ||||||||||
F3 | Montgomery | 50 Maryland Ave., Rockville 20850 | 1776 | Frederick | 1777 | 1777 | ||||
A southern section of the county was set off in 1788 to form the District of Columbia. | ||||||||||
Patuxent | 1654 (renamed Calvert, 1658) | original | ||||||||
G5 | Prince George's | 14735 Main St., P.O. Box 1600, Upper Marlboro 20773-1600 | 1696 | Calvert/Charles | 1696 | 1698 5303 Chrysler Way, P.O. Box 1729, Upper Marlboro | ||||
J4 | Queen Anne's | 100 Courthouse Sq., Centreville 21617 | 1706 | Dorchester/ Talbot/Kent | 1707 | 1706 107 North Liberty St., P.O. Box 59, Centerville 21617-0059 | ||||
G6 | Saint Mary's | 41605 Court House Dr., P.O. Box 676 | 1637 | original | 1827 | 1658 41605 Court House Dr., P.O. Box 602, Leonardtown 20650-0602 | ||||
The courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1831. Some deeds were re-recorded back to 1781, and abstracts of deeds sent to Annapolis beginning in 1784 also make up for some of the records that were destroyed. | ||||||||||
J7 | Somerset | 30512 Prince William St., P. O. Box 279, Princess Anne 21853-0279 | 1666 | original | 1665 | 1664 30512 Prince William St., Princess Anne 21853 | ||||
The courthouse burned in 1831, but the records were saved. | ||||||||||
H5 | Talbot | 11 N. Washington St., Easton 21601 | by 1661/2 | original | 1662 | 1668 P. O. Box 816, Easton 21601-0816 | ||||
D2 | Washington | 95 W. Washington St., Hagerstown 21740 | 1776 | Frederick | 1777 | 1777 | ||||
Some records were lost in a courthouse fire in 1871. | ||||||||||
J6 | Wicomico | North Division and Main St., P. O. Box 806, Salisbury 21801-0806 | 1867 | Somerset/ Worcester | 1867 | 1866 North Division and Main St., P. O. Box 787, Salisbury 21801-0787 | ||||
K6 | Worcester | 1 W. Market St., Rm. 104, Snow Hill 21863- 1074 | 1742 | Somerset | 1742 | 1742 1 West Market St. Rm. 102 |