WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND

HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

[photo, Sideling Hill, west of Hancock, Washington County, Maryland] 1727, Jan 10. Land deed granted to Israel Friend by Chief of the Five Nations; recorded in Nov. 1730.

1756. Fort Frederick erected; protected frontier settlers during French and Indian War.

1762. Elizabethtown (later Hagerstown) laid out by Jonathan Hager.

1765, Aug. Surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon reached South Mountain.

1766, April. Mason and Dixon surveyed Sideling Hill.

Sideling Hill, west of Hancock, Washington County, Maryland, October 2014. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1776, Sept 6. Washington County created from Frederick County by resolve of 9th Provincial Convention; named for George Washington (1732-1799), Commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and first President of the United States.

1785, Jan 15. General Assembly authorized County's justices to impose a fee on residents for money to finish Courthouse and jail.

1790, July. Stewart Herbert, Jr., began printing Elizabethtown (now Hagerstown) Washington Spy, first newspaper west of Blue Ridge Mountains.

1813. Hagerstown incorporated (Chapter 121, Acts of 1813, Dec. session).

1820, Sept. 8. William T. Hamilton (1820-1888), Governor of Maryland, 1880-84, born in Hagerstown.

1823. Williamsport incorporated.

1823. Second Courthouse completed at Hagerstown, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe.

1827, July 4. Boonsboro citizens on South Mountain dedicated first completed monument in nation to honor George Washington.

1828, Nov. James W. C. Pennington, a slave in Washington County, escaped to freedom in Pennsylvania.

[photo, Town Hall, 21 North Main St., and Town Hall Annex, 19 North Main St., Boonsboro, Maryland] 1831. Boonsboro incorporated.

1832. Sharpsburg incorporated.

1836. Clear Spring incorporated.

1840. Funkstown incorporated.

Town Hall, 21 North Main St. & Town Hall Annex, 19 North Main St., Boonsboro, Maryland, October 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

[photo, Kennedy Farmhouse, 2406 Chestnut Grove Road, Sharpsburg, Maryland] 1841. Smithsburg incorporated.

1853. Hancock incorporated.

1859, July 3-Oct. 16. John Brown (1800-1859) prepared for raid on Harper's Ferry from Kennedy Farmhouse at Sharpsburg. The raid, Oct. 16-18, 1859, was unsuccessful. Later, Brown was tried and hanged with six of his men on Dec. 2, 1859.

Kennedy Farmhouse, 2406 Chestnut Grove Road, Sharpsburg, Maryland, October 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1862, Jan. 5-6. Under Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Confederate artillery bombarded Brig. Gen. Frederick W. Lander's Union forces at Battle of Hancock. Unsuccessful in taking town, Confederates withdrew to Virginia, Jan. 7, 1862.

1862, Sept. 14. Battle of South Mountain. Union troops from Army of the Potomac forced Confederates from Army of Northern Virginia out of Crampton's Gap, Fox's Gap, and Turner's Gap.

1862, Sept. 17. Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg). Union Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan fought Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in bloodiest one-day battle in American history. Though Antietam was technically a draw, President Abraham Lincoln took the opportunity to issue a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, which declared that slaves held in rebel states would be free effective Jan. 1, 1863.

1862, Oct. 10-12. Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gen. James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart rode through Washington, Frederick and Montgomery counties during Chambersburg Raid to Pennsylvania.

1863, late June- early July. Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia passed through Washington County en route to Gettysburg and in retreat.

1864, July 6. Hagerstown held for ransom by Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal Early.

[photo, Courthouse, 95 West Washington St. Hagerstown, Maryland] 1871, Dec. 6. Courthouse destroyed by fire at Hagerstown.

1872. Keedysville incorporated.

1872. Western Maryland Railroad completed line, Hagerstown to Baltimore.

1874. Third Courthouse dedicated at Hagerstown.

Courthouse, 95 West Washington St. Hagerstown, Maryland, June 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

[photo, World War I Memorial, 19 North Main St., Boonsboro, Maryland] 1892, May 12. William Preston Lane, Jr. (1892-1967), Governor of Maryland, 1947-51, born in Hagerstown.

1894, April 24. "Coxey's Army" reached Boonsboro on route to Washington, DC.

1898, April 9. Washington County Free Library incorporated in Hagerstown.

1901, Aug. 27 Washington County Free Library opened in Hagerstown.

1902. Boonsboro Free Library and Reading Room opened with collection previously owned by former Republican Club of Boonsboro.

1904. Washington County Free Library and Boonsboro Free Library merged collections.

1904, April 7. Washington County Hospital Association incorporated.


World War I Memorial, 19 North Main St., Boonsboro, Maryland, August 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1905, April. Washington County experimented successfully with horse-drawn bookwagon.

1905, Oct. 26. Washington County Hospital opened in Hagerstown.

1926. Ammon H. Kreider and Lewis E. Reisner founded Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company, Hagerstown.

1929, April 1. Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Company bought Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company, Hagerstown.

[photo, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, City Park, Hagerstown, Maryland] 1931. Maryland State Penal Farm (now Maryland Correctional Institution) organized at Hagerstown.

1931. Fairchild Airplane Manufacturing Company moved headquarters to Hagerstown.

1931, Sept. 16. Washington County Museum of Fine Arts opened at Hagerstown.


Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, City Park, Hagerstown, Maryland, June 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1933, July 16. State Congress of Farmers and Workers convened in Hagerstown.

1939, Sept. 22. Fairchild Company received U.S. Army contract for PT-19 training airplane following victory in fly-off competition.

1946, Sept. 10. Hagerstown Junior College founded.

1956, Sept. Washington County Closed-Circuit Educational Television Project (1956-1961) began in eight public elementary schools, first such use of closed-circuit instructional television in nation.

1962. Richard A. Henson started Hagerstown Commuter airline and began air service between Hagerstown and Washington, DC.

1962, Dec. Property bought for new Hagerstown Junior College campus.

1965. Appalachian Regional Commission established by federal statute.

1966, Sept. 19. Hagerstown Junior College's new campus opened for classes.

1967, Nov. Richard A. Henson's Allegheny Commuter inaugurated air service from Hagerstown to Baltimore.

1968. Governor's Council for Appalachian Maryland created.

1970. I-70 opened from Frederick to Hancock.

1971. Tri-County Council for Western Maryland formed.

1983, Dec. Roxbury Correctional Institution opened at Hagerstown.

1984. Fairchild ceased airplane production in Hagerstown.

1993. Hagerstown Suns established.

1998, July 1. Hagerstown Junior College renamed Hagerstown Community College.

2003. Fairchild bought by M7 Aerospace and company headquarters relocated to San Antonio, Texas.

2004, March 2. Electronic voting system used during primary elections at polling places and for absentee ballots in all counties and Baltimore City.

2005, Jan. University System of Maryland Hagerstown opened.

2020. Hagerstown Suns affiliation with Major League Baseball ended following minor league restructuring.

Maryland Constitutional Offices & Agencies
Maryland Departments
Maryland Independent Agencies
Maryland Executive Commissions, Committees, Task Forces, & Advisory Boards
Maryland Universities & Colleges
Maryland Counties
Maryland Municipalities
Maryland at a Glance

Maryland Manual On-Line

© Copyright Maryland State Archives