Rebuilt Clock Resumes The Ticking Of Time In Old Ellicott City

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — The beloved Old Ellicott City clock, heavily damaged in the 2016 flood and washed away in the 2018 flood, has been officially erected back on Main Street.

Officials gathered Saturday to unveil the oversized grandfather clock at the Baltimore & Ohio Ellicott City Station Museum Plaza.

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In 2000, the Kiwanis Club of Ellicott City donated the original OEC clock. It stood on Main Street, located in the B&C Plaza at the bottom of the hill leading down to the Patapsco River, for 16 years before being destroyed during the 2016 flood. It included a plaque marking the town's founding in 1772.

After a new dedication and replacement of the clock in 2017, the clock was again swept away by major flooding in 2018. A piece of the original clock was found in the Patapsco River and temporarily set back up at 9:20, the time the flood hit. A new clock was installed in July 2017, but the May 2018 flood washed it away, too. Pieces of this clock also were found in the Patapsco River.

In 2025, the county approved the return of the OEC Clock after making significant progress on flood mitigation on Lower Main Street and through the EC Safe and Sound Plan. The new clock has been designed to be flood-resilient, leaders say.

On Oct. 21, 2025, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball joined the Ellicott City Partnership for “Back to the Future Day,” which announced the fundraising campaign to fund the return of the OEC Clock. Since the announcement, the Ellicott City Partnership announced a fundraising campaign for the return of the clock, which has raised more than $30,000.

"The Old Ellicott City Clock has always been more than a way to tell time. It has been a quiet witness to the life of this community, marking moments of joy, challenge and renewal. Since the 2018 flood, the clock's absence has been felt on Main Street. Thanks to the generosity of so many donors and the leadership of the Ellicott City Partnership, we welcome it home. The clock’s return is a reminder of something powerful: that what we value as a community, we restore. What we cherish, we preserve. And what defines us, we bring back, stronger than before," Ball said at the unveiling Saturday.

Julia Sanger, president of the Ellicott City Partnership, added that the clock is more than just a piece of equipment.

"It’s a symbol of what’s possible when a community comes together to bring back something that honors the past and embraces the future," Sanger said.