Whether coming to Frederick as a casual visitor or a history buff, locations and tours abound to please everyone's interest. Small by population standards, the city's residents have access to and enjoy every advantage available to modern society without the fanfare of cities like New York or Las Vegas. The atmosphere is charming, warm, and friendly. Awash with historical value, it is a treasure trove of people, places, and events that impacted the birth of our nation. Originally property of England's Baron Baltimore, setters came as early as the 1720s. Frederick Calvert, the 6th Baron Baltimore, was the last proprietor of Maryland. Frederick County, and Frederick Town, were incorporated in December 1748. Contact information for points of interest and locations are easily found in the Frederick, MD yellow pages and the Frederick, MD business directory.One historical site, Catoctin Iron Furnace, provided cannon balls for General Washington's Continental Army. Hessian Barracks, another site, served as a prison for Hessian mercenaries and English troops captured during the war.
L'Hermitage Plantation, founded by Haitian immigrants in 1793, housed the largest number of slaves in Maryland. Maryland slavery ended in 1864. L'Hermitage Slave Village is situated on the Monocacy National Battlefield. During the Civil War one final Confederate attack on Union territory was fought at Monocacy Junction, July 9, 1864. General Meade took control of the Army of the Potomac just before the Battle of Gettysburg at Prospect Hall, circa 1787. Other locations include: Loats Female Orphan Asylum, established in 1879, currently serves as the Historical Society of Frederick County headquarters; Hood College, a modern institution, established in 1893 as the Women's College of Frederick; and the Schifferstadt House, circa 1756, the oldest standing home in Frederick. Notable Frederick residents include: Poet Francis Scott Key, who penned Defense of Fort McHenry on September 14, 1814. This became the Star Spangled Banner that was adopted as the American national anthem by Congress in 1931. Mr. Key's sister, Anne, married Roger B. Taney, the fifth Chief Justice of the United States. The Taney home is on the city's historical house tour. Barbara Fritchie was a Union loyalist during the Civil War. Whether fact or fiction, the story has endured that in 1856, at age 90, in the street outside her home, also on the Frederick walking tour, Fritchie waved a Union flag at Confederate soldiers attempting to block their passage and irritate Stonewall Jackson's troops.
Written by Lyndsey Morgan
