WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND

HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

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.

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.

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.

1853. Hancock incorporated.

1859, July 3-Oct. 16. John Brown (1800-1859) prepared for raid on Harper's Ferry from Kennedy Farmhouse at Sharpsburg.

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

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, Fox's, and Turner's Gaps.

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 Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Cavalry Division rode through Washington, Frederick and Montgomery counties during Chamberburg 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.

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.

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

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

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.

1939. Fairchild Company won competition for Army trainer with PT-19.

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.

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.

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