Hagerstown and Washington County, Maryland    Select the map for a 148.5 KB clickable close-up.

 

Origins  Washington County can claim to be the first area of the new United States to be named after the Commander-In-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington. The county was officially created in 1776 at Maryland's first state convention.

The Hager House, City Park, Hagerstown, MD

The city of Hagerstown had its start well before the surrounding county was incorporated. History credits Jonathan Hager, a German immigrant who arrived in Philadelphia in 1736, with the first settlement in the Cumberland Valley, which was at that time named "Conococheague Settlement" after the small creek that runs nearby the town to the west. Hager set up his camp at what is now Hagerstown's City Park, and his house is a popular historical attraction, a living illustration of what life was like during the 1700s in the western frontier. The 22-inch walls helped protect the house from Indian attack and doubled as a fort. The house was opened to the public in 1962.

Hager is known as "the father of Washington County" because he laid the groundwork for its succession from Frederick County in 1776. Historical records show that Hager purchased 200 acres of land and created what was then called "Hager's Fancy" in 1739. He was married in 1740 to Elizabeth Kershner, who gave her name to the first name of the town: Elizabeth's Town. The settlement was then renamed Hagerstown shortly thereafter. The city was officially founded in 1762. Hager sold the land in 1745, but the Washington County Historical Society repurchased the land in 1944 and sold it to the city in 1955.  Hager went on to represent his town in Annapolis at the Maryland General Assembly, but he was killed while supervising the constriction of the Zion Reformed Church in Hagerstown where his grave, and that of his wife, now exists to this day.

 

Division and Development

Washington County has been central to many of the events that shaped the nation's early history. Ft. Frederick, in the western section of the county, acted as an outpost on the western border of the British Empire, and it was active during the French and Indian War. The fort housed imprisoned German mercenaries called Hessians and their British  allies during the Revolutionary period. Union forces also took advantage of the forts strategic position along rail lines and the C & O canal during the Civil War.

Washington County also symbolizes the nation's schizophrenia regarding slavery as the nation moved towards war in the first half of the nineteeth century. Radical abolitionist John Brown used the Kennedy Farm as a staging area for his 1859 attack on Harper's Ferry. The bloodiest day of fighting during the Civil war took place in Washington County at the Antietam Battlefield. For many, the battle would set the direction of the war in favor of the Union, and even Lincoln used the union advantage to announce his Emancipation Proclamation a few months later.

The Industrial Revolution brought railroads and automobile manufacturing to the county, leading many to dub the Hagerstown the Hub City. Fairchild Industries also gained momentum here as the airplane became a common mode of transportation.

Today, Hagerstown and Washington County continue to remake themselves as economic and demographic influences make their mark upon the city and surrounding area.  Hagerstown claims a population of 37,000, numerous parks and historic places, and the county is rich with the natural resources of numerous regional and state parks. City Park's natural 10-acre lake makes it one of the most beautiful municipal parks in the region. The city retains its Class A minor league team, the Hagerstown Suns, and it sports a 9-hole municipal golf course, the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts,  the classic Maryland Theater, and numerous historical museums. For Washington County and Hagerstown, "the past is but prologue."

Hagerstown and Washington County Links:

The City of Hagerstown
Crossroads of the Civil War
The Herald Mail (Newspaper)
WesternMaryland.com
Welcome to Washington County (from the Herald Mail)
Hagerstown City Guide (from Western Maryland On-Line)
Washington County Free Library
Washington County Fire and Rescue Communications
Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce
Antietam Access: Washington County Information
Washington County Home Page
From Sailor: Maryland's Library Network
The Maryland Theater