• In June of 1863, Southern sympathizers greeted Generals Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet and George Pickett in the square. The ladies greatly embarrassed Pickett by chiding him about his curley hair. Records of the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry, fighting in the streets of Hagerstown, on July 6th, after Gettysburg, confirm that Sgt. Joseph Brown, of Company B, was mortally wounded here in the square as his company prepared to charge the Confederates to the north. The shooter was said to have been the daughter of Dr. James B. McKee. There is no record of what happened to the young lady.

• The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road passed through this general area following the ancient “Warrior’s Path” from New York State, down the Shenandoah Valley into Georgia. It existed long before the European immigration
began, when German and Irish settlers traveled the road, settling at points along the way, including Hagerstown.

• Hagerstown was home to William O. Wilson, an African-American who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery with Co. I, 9th U. S. Cavalry, in the Sioux Campaigns in 1890.
He is buried in nearby Rose Hill Cemetery.

• The signature of future Supreme Court Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes, is on a letter thanking Mrs. Howard Kennedy, of Hagerstown, for her help in his recovery from wounds suffered at the Battle of Antietam. (9/17/62)

• Isaac Shelby, a native of our county, was instrumental in organizing 1,000 “over-the-mountain-men” in 1780 and leading them to victory over the British at King’s Mountain, South Carolina. A battle that changed the course of the Revolutionary War. He later became the first Governor of Kentucky.

• Both the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Appalachian Trail pass through Washington County.

• Hagerstown’s post master would hoist a white flag when the mail was ready for citizens to pickup. Mail that remained too long was taken to a nearby tavern for late collection.

• Look up and become aware of the grand architecture of the buildings on either side of this street. You will find a mixture of Federal Style, Classical Revival and Italianate.

• Hiram Percy Maxim, of New England, married Josephine Hamilton, daughter of Maryland Governor William Hamilton, of Hagerstown. Maxim invented the gun silencer and founded ham radio. Both Maxims are buried in Hagerstown’s Rose Hill Cemetery.

• Father Abraham Ryan, later known as the “Poet Priest of the Confederacy,” was born in Hagerstown in 1838, and baptized at St. Mary’s Catholic Church (1790) one block west of here.

• Printer John Gruber’s shop, on South Potomac Street, published the first book edition of our National Anthem in October, 1814.

• In 1812, Henry O. Wagoner was born in Hagerstown. He became the first African American sheriff in the “wild west.”

• In 1804 it was a two hour trip east by stage coach to Frederick, MD. Today, only 20 minutes by car.

• In 1823 the first Macadamized road in America connected Hagerstown with Boonsboro.

• Population in 1827: 3,262, included 38 stores, 13 taverns and 15 schools.

• After the Battle of Saratoga (1777) John Whistler settled in Hagerstown and married a local woman. They became the parents of George Washington Whistler, who became the father of the famous painter James McNeill Whistler, famous world-wide for his “Whistler’s Mother.” So, it might be argued that Whistler’s grandmother was from Hagerstown!

• Robert Moxley, of Hagerstown organized a brass band before the Civil War, with relatives and friends. All were slaves at the time. In 1863, a Federal recruiting officer was so impressed that he offered them their freedom for joining the United States Colored Troops as a recruiting band. They did, and went on to become the number one band of the first brigade, serving in the Chesapeake Bay region.