Harford County, Maryland was first discovered in 1608 by Captain John Smith of the Virginia Colony (the same John Smith of the Pocahontas legend). He made a fairly accurate map of the upper country and its islands and shores.
Harford County was separated from Baltimore County in 1773 (Chapter 6, Acts of 1773). The County was named for Henry Harford (1759-1834), last proprietary of Maryland. He was the son of Frederick Calvert, Sixth Lord Baltimore, but because of his illegitimate birth did not inherit his father's title.
The Harford County Coat of Arms was designed by George Van Bibber and adopted by the County Commissioners on September 28, 1964. In the accepted design the shield is gold to symbolize the wealth of the county and the richness of its fields. Across the shield are waving bends of blue signifying three major county streams - Deer Creek, Bynum Run, and Winters Run. The crest is a two-handed forearm with the right-hand holding escrivant (heraldic for "writing"), a white quill symbolizing the pen used by those who wrote and signed the Bush Declaration. The left hand holds a sword as if presenting into the right-hand of the nation the skills of reproducing defense materials, emanating from Edgewood Arsenal and Aberdeen Proving Ground. The "motto "At the Risque of our Lives and Fortunes" comprises the last eight words of the Bush Declaration and preserves the same spelling for "risk" that is used in that document.
The County was originally settled by the English, followed by those from Virginia and North and South Carolina. The northern areas of the county lie in the Piedmont Plateau, and have an elevation of two hundred to seven hundred fifty feet above sea level. The southern areas are part of the Coastal Plain and range from forty to two hundred feet above sea level.
Probably the two most important factors in Harford's economy were the Aberdeen Proving Ground and the Edgewood Arsenal. Aberdeen Proving Ground was first used primarily for the testing of ordnance and Edgewood Arsenal for the U.S. Army chemical warfare station, where various types of gases were developed for military use. Training is also carried on in offensive and defensive chemical warfare. Located on the reservation at Edgewood Arsenal was Fort Hoyle, a field artillery and ordnance battery headquarters, and also used as a summer camp of the U.S. Army Field Artillery Reserve. First opened in 1922, Fort Hoyle was used until 1940. In July 1971, Edgewood Arsenal merged with the Aberdeen Proving Ground, and was renamed Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground. Today these areas are used for various military functions. These two areas have provided hundreds of jobs contributing greatly to the economic stability of the county.
Harford County today has an area of four hundred forty-eight square land miles and twenty-seven square water miles. Harford has three incorporated towns: Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, and Bel Air, the County Seat.
