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) is a city in Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 11,331 (17,866 in the HdG zip code, 33,491 in the Aberdeen-Havre de Grace area) at the 2000 census. Havre de Grace is named after the port city of Le Havre, France. Its name in French means "Gracious Harbor," or, more literally, "Harbor of Grace."
Havre de Grace is a small city but has in recent years expanded through the process of annexing land. Housing development is moderate but steady and includes the complete re-building of blighted areas into middle class homes. Havre de Grace is poised to prosper in the next few years as a result of the BRAC activities of the Department of Defense which will relocate activities from various bases to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, a few miles away. This will enhance the population with additional skilled and professional employed residents. Havre de Grace also claims a re-vitalized seaplane port. There are five public schools and the oldest hospital in Harford County, Harford Memorial Hospital.
Havre de Grace's location on the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay and the outlet of the Susquehanna River makes it popular for recreation. There are marinas and service operators dotting the shore line. There is also a city yacht basin and park where various events are held each year; it is a focal point of community life during the summer. A promenade and boardwalk that runs the length of the shore from the Concord Point Lighthouse to the yacht basin was devastated by Hurricane Isabel and was recently rebuilt.
Havre de Grace is an influential town with a long history, having lost the election to be the nation's ultimate capital to Washington, D.C., by only one vote.
Havre de Grace is located at (39.548412, -76.097554) at the mouth of the Susquehanna River.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.4 square miles (14.0 km²), of which, 4.0 square miles (10.4 km²) of it is land and 1.4 square miles (3.5 km²) of it (25.23%) is water.
Two railroad mainlines pass through Havre de Grace. More than 80 daily passenger trains on Amtrak's busy Northeast Corridor speed through Havre de Grace at on an elevated line for traversing the adjacent Susquehanna River Bridge. The double-track bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad between 1904–1906 for its New York City–Washington, D.C. line. CSX Transportation's bridge, originally constructed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, carries a heavy volume of freight.