Westminster is a small city of 19,872, steeped in history and tradition, yet progressive with regard to business and technology. It offers the best of the old and the new with charming boutiques, scenic, rolling hills, and a state-of-the-art Cultural Center. Here you can enjoy a quieter life style, excellent recreational facilities, a top-notch school system and easy access to the metropolitan areas of Baltimore or Washington, DC. This is a great place to live or visit!
Location
Westminster is located in Carroll County, in the Baltimore metro area of northern Maryland. It is the county seat.
Westminster is located 28 miles northwest of Baltimore, 47 miles north of Washington DC, and 101 miles southwest of Philadelphia, PA.
Geography
Westminster has a total area of 5.7 square miles and none of it is covered by water. The rolling terrain sits at an altitude of 717 feet above sea level.
Carroll County is characterized by low, rolling landscapes and fertile valleys. The County has no large natural lakes, but Piney Run Park Nature Center in Sykesville features a 300-acre lake surrounded by 500 acres of beautiful woods and open space. The 58-mile long Monocacy River rises in Carroll County, west of the town of Harney, near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. It is the longest Maryland tributary of the Potomac River. The County enjoys Chesapeake Bay and the renowned Baltimore Harbor a short distance southeast of it and the Potomac River to its west.
Jobs
As the County seat of Carroll County, Westminster is the hub of a fast growing industrial and commercial base. It has an excellent location, with proximity and access to many businesses and major transportation centers. The surrounding area has a significant number of firms in manufacturing, transportation, health and business service sectors. Agriculture and tourism also have strong roles in the success of the local economy.
Major manufacturing and distribution firms in the county include English American Tailoring, EVAPCO, Flowserve, General Dynamics Robotic Systems, Knorr Brake, Lehigh Cement, Marada Industries, Northrop Grumman, Random House and Solo Cup. Many of these are Fortune 500 companies.
Educational, health and social services provide 24% of the employment in Westminster, and retail trade provides 14%. The household income in the area is approximately $63,647. The average time to travel to work is 29.6 minutes, and the unemployment level is low at 3.7%.
Housing
Westminster provides a wide range of housing opportunities. There are townhouses, condominiums, single-family homes, golf course communities, farm homes and luxury executive estates. Town homes and condos are very popular. The median home price for a home in Westminster is $324,500.
Recreation
Westminster offers a wealth of outdoor and recreational facilities. The Carroll County Sports Complex is a 76-acre facility that is one of the best softball parks in the nation. It is the home of Women's Fast Pitch Softball as well as hosting several local and regional tournaments throughout the spring and summer. The Carroll County Men's League, the Carroll County Church Softball League, and the Carroll County Co-ed and Women's Leagues use the facility six days a week. The Baltimore Beltway Senior Softball League and the Carroll County Lacrosse Association also play here throughout their seasons, as well as youth baseball, softball, soccer, and lacrosse. The Sports Complex also organizes adult basketball leagues throughout the winter months.
Westminster has a Municipal pool, a family fitness center, a skate park, and several public parks.
Piney Run Park in nearby Sykesville has 500 acres of woodlands, a nature center and a 300-acre lake. Here you can boat, fish, hike, picnic, play tennis, or just appreciate nature's beauty.
Hashawha Environmental Center in Union Mill has a pool and 320 acres to explore in the rolling hills of Carroll County. The center provides a variety of habitats, from streams and ponds to wetlands, fields, coniferous forests, and hardwood stands. There is a system of trails for hiking, horseback riding, and cycling.
Bear Branch Nature Center, just three miles north of Westminster, features a Library Resource Room, a Bird Observation Room, a Discovery Room, an Exhibit Hall with insects, deer, Native American artifacts, and conservation exhibits, and a 40 seat planetarium.
In Hampstead you can enjoy Cascade Lake, a natural spring-fed lake with a large swimming area featuring waterslides, a high dive platform, and floating rafts.
Westminster proudly boasts some of the best golfing in the State. Wakefield Valley Golf Club, a 27-hole semi-private course, is one of Maryland's most challenging championship golf courses. It has three nine-hole courses that are played in three eighteen-hole combinations. Of the three, the Gold/Green Course is the most challenging because of the natural hazards that come into play. They all have narrow fairways and fast undulating greens that are medium-sized. The course has hosted the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur Qualifiers, as well as many other USGA and MAPGA events.
Bear Creek Golf Club is an 18-hole semi-private course built upon the rolling terrain of northern Maryland horse farms. This very scenic course was built on hilly terrain, with many fast, crown-shaped greens.
Special Attractions/Events
Westminster is Carroll County’s cultural hub. It is the home of the Carroll County Arts Council, located in the magnificently renovated Carroll Arts Center, formerly the Carroll Theatre. This beautiful art deco building houses a 263-seat theatre, the Tevis Gallery, three art classrooms and offices.
Westminster also is home to Theatre on the Hill, a professional summer theatre featuring a variety of broadway musicals, comedies, and children's shows.
McDaniel College and the Carroll Community College also offer theatre and art facilities.
Westminster hosts a multitude of festivities and cultural events throughout the year, such as the Carroll County Fair. In the warm months, outdoor movie nights are held at the Westminster City Park, and in the cold months movies are shown indoors at the Westminster Recreation Center.
In the Spring there is an annual egg hunt held on the Westminster City Hall grounds.
In April there is the Annual Westminster Fallfest Gala, followed by the Flower/Jazz Festival and 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk in May.
In June, Art in the Park is held on the City Hall Grounds, regardless of the weather. This event features a juried display and sale of works by dozens of local artists in a variety of mediums.
Other events include the Tour de Carroll, the Halloween Parade extravaganza, the Celebrate Local Heroes Festival and the Westminster Municipal Band Concert.
In September there is the week long Westminster Fallfest, featuring carnival rides, live entertainment, and great food. Midnight Madness is held in downtown Historic Westminster. It is a night of shopping, including live entertainment, antique cars, and lots of fun.
To wind up the year, there is the Annual Tree Lighting, Storefront Decorating Contest, and the Arrival of Santa. Also in December, the annual Festival of Wreaths, held at the Carroll Arts Center, features hundreds of unique theme wreaths displayed during a week long silent auction.
Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
Westminster was named for a borough of London, and one of its former names was Winchester.
Westminster is the birthplace of Sargent Shriver, a former candidate for Vice President of the United States, and brother-in-law of John F. Kennedy.
McDaniel College is home to the summer training camp of the Baltimore Ravens NFL team.
Just outside of Westminster is the farm at which Whittaker Chambers hid the highly-publicized "pumpkin papers". In November 1948, Chambers led two investigators into a pumpkin patch in Maryland, where he brought out a hollowed-out pumpkin containing four rolls of microfilm. Nixon’s photograph, which was big news at the time, showed him viewing the microfilm with a magnifying glass. In 1984, for his contribution to "the century's epic struggle between freedom and totalitarianism”, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Chambers the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Chambers' Pipe Creek Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
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