Annual Holiday House Tour In Howard County Moves Online

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — The Howard County Historical Society's annual Holiday House Tour still will be held this year, but will be virtual instead of in person due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tour will be available online starting Dec. 20 on the historical society’s website.

Shawn Gladden, executive director of the society, told the Baltimore Sun that organizers had to come up with an alternative versus canceling it altogether.

“We are trying to recreate it the best we can,” Gladden said. “We have 100 to 125 diehards that come every year. Some folks, this is part of their holiday plans every year. We had to do something.”

To coincide with Howard County's Year of the Woman, the tour will incorporate sites and spots that reflect that theme.

"It is ... a little bit of history, a little bit of tours of houses and we tied it all together,” Gladden said. “Like everyone, we’re winging this and trying to figure it all out.”

Viewers will see such places as the Patapsco Female Institute, Christ Church, Ellicott City’s Historic Main Street, the circuit courthouse and Castle Angelo. The tour happens to be the historical society's biggest fundraiser, an estimated 15 percent of its yearly revenue. The organization this year will be asking tour viewers to contemplate donating to the society as an alternative option. An anonymous donor will match any money the society raises in December up to $5,000.

“We are not expecting to bring in that kind of money,” Gladden said. “We are offering this free and are hopeful people will like it.”

Read more at the Baltimore Sun.