It is all here: Palladian mansions, some of the country's earliest and finest Gothic Revival churches, the "romantic" stone cottages of the mid-1800s, Belle Epoch mansions of the wealthy, two of the few extant Freedmen's Bureau buildings in the nation, and, of course, the urban tract housing of the mid-twentieth century.

With original European settlements dating back over 300 years, Harford County is rich in evidence of its past inhabitants. Images from the past 100 years show the early movie theaters that stood in Aberdeen, Bel Air, and Havre de Grace, the graceful iron bridge that crossed Deer Creek, the grand stone Archer home with farm animals wandering outside the front door, the general store at Carsins Run, and much more. Historic photographs and postcards document the people who have lived in Harford County, the places they have built, and their way of life. Present-day photographs taken for this book reveal the changes that have occurred. These pages showcase streetscapes, stores, restaurants, homes, schools, and churches from Jarrettsville to Darlington and Cardiff to Riverside. Some are all but forgotten, some have been repurposed, and some have been magnificently restored. Through vintage and modern photographs and postcards, Harford County is revealed then and now.

The town of Bel Air is the hub of Harford County and one of the most vital towns in the state of Maryland. Developed as the county seat in 1780, Bel Air began as an area of about seven blocks by two blocks with a courthouse directly in the center. Today, after tremendous growth, Main Street and the courthouse still lie at the heart of the town. From Bel Air's beginning to its incorporation in 1874 and through the 21st century, growth and change have presented challenges and opportunities for this storybook community.