Historical Markers and War Memorials in Williamsport, Maryland
Hagerstown is the county seat for Washington County
Williamsport is in Washington County
Washington County(874) ► ADJACENT TO WASHINGTON COUNTY Allegany County(293) ► Frederick County(554) ► Franklin County, Pennsylvania(228) ► Fulton County, Pennsylvania(47) ► Loudoun County, Virginia(345) ► Berkeley County, West Virginia(106) ► Jefferson County, West Virginia(349) ► Morgan County, West Virginia(109) ►
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The boatsmen had a hard life. But the locktenders did too, because they couldn't go nowhere. They had to be on the job all the time. - Harvey Brant, Locktender, Lock 44.
The canal company supplied locktenders with . . . — — Map (db m95855) HM
While a Captain in the Union Army, during the Civil War, he crossed the Potomac River, at Williamsport, in 1861 and built a breastwork, mounting three siege guns, on this hill, now known as Doubleday Hill.
He is credited witih inventing the . . . — — Map (db m51872) HM
It shall be their duty, at all hours, by night as well as by day, to pass all boats and floats presenting themselves at their locks.
Charles Mercer, President, C&O Canal Company
The Williamsport Community Band was first organized in August 1927 with over 40 members. The band performed concerts and played for many community events. In June 1928, the band had the honor of being the official band for the Maryland Delegation . . . — — Map (db m131807) HM
On July 14, 1863, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s Rear Guard was attacked by the Union Army of the Potomac Cavalry divisions on this land marking the final Battle of the Gettysburg Campaign in Maryland. — — Map (db m223990) WM
In days past, while standing on the edge of the canal one would see a variety of boats float by. During the peak operating years of the C&O Canal in the 1870's, as many as 550 freight boats were in use on the canal carrying tons of coal from . . . — — Map (db m95906) HM
In the Beginning
"Will organize Boy Scouts.
Rev. M. F. Petzold, pastor of the Methodist church, of Williamsport, is arranging to organize a patrol of Boy Scouts in that place. At a preliminary meeting held at the Methodist . . . — — Map (db m131809) HM
On September 10, 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and a detachment of 15,000 men, about two-thirds of the Army of Northern Virginia, to capture the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry and secure Confederate . . . — — Map (db m1118) HM
”The opening of the navigation of the Potomac is, perhaps, a work of more political than commercial consequence, as it will be one of the grandest chains for preserving the federal Union.”
George Washington
The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal . . . — — Map (db m241884) HM
In 1790 Williamsport nearly became the National Capitol as President George Washington visited the town in his search for the site of the future Federal City. But this was not to be. Decades later as construction of the Chesapeake & Onio Canal . . . — — Map (db m241995) HM
On the afternoon of July 5, 1863, Williamsport was inundated with the arrival of 7,000
wounded Confederate soldiers retreating from the Battle of Gettysburg. The ambulance
train, under the command of Brigadier General John Imboden, arrived to find . . . — — Map (db m170560) HM
You are following a segment of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, an evolving network that includes the C&O Canal Towpath. An enterprise of many partners, the Trail celebrates the heritage of the Potomac and upper Ohio river basins and . . . — — Map (db m60568) HM
Eleven aqueducts were built from Georgetown to Cumberland to carry water over water. The aqueducts, literally “water bridges,” carried the canal over the large streams and rivers flowing into the Potomac River.
The Conococheague Creek . . . — — Map (db m60571) HM
It is a refuge, a place of retreat, a long stretch of quiet and peace at the Capital’s back door…William O. Douglas.
Look around you. The park you stand in exists because people cared. In January 1954, Justice William O. Douglas of the Supreme . . . — — Map (db m60585) HM
Williamsport is located near the midway point of the 184.5 mile-long C & O Canal. Cushwa Basin was a turning basin where the 90 to 95 foot-long canal boats could turn around, one of only a few along the length of the canal system. This allowed boats . . . — — Map (db m95859) HM
In April 1861, Williamsport residents awoke to find themselves living across the Potomac River from the enemy. Virginia had seceded from the Union, and troops from both sides skirmished for control of the vital river crossing and the C & O Canal. . . . — — Map (db m95539) HM
In April 1861, Williamsport residents awoke to find themselves living across the Potomac River from the enemy. Virginia had seceded from the Union, and troops from both sides skirmished for control of the vital river crossing and the C & O Canal. . . . — — Map (db m95541) HM
Retreating after Gettysburg, the Confederate Army was trapped for seven days by the swollen Potomac River. July 13th-14th Gen. Lee with Longstreet's and Hill's Corps crossed here on a pontoon bridge. Ewell's Corps forded the Potomac above . . . — — Map (db m193626) HM
The Potomac River trapped Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Confederate army during the retreat from Gettysburg. Flooded by torrential rains on July 4, 1863, the Potomac raged for more than a week, preventing Lee from crossing into present-day West . . . — — Map (db m193629) HM
General J.E.B. Stuart with General Wade Hampton attacked a large force of Pennsylvania militia under Governor Curtin and General John F. Reynolds near here September 20, 1862. Outnumbered, he retired across the Potomac. He desired to seize federal . . . — — Map (db m204238) HM
After stunning victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, Virginia, early in May 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee carried the war through Maryland, across the Mason and Dixon Line and into Pennsylvania. His infantry marched north through . . . — — Map (db m95856) HM
Erected and dedicated
to the memory of the boys from
The Williamsport District
who gave their lives or their services
in the World War
1914 — 1918
Anderson, William Mc.
Ardinger, Kenneth E.
Bair, Shafer B.
Baker, . . . — — Map (db m131799) WM
"I would get acquainted with the life of the canal...for I had see nothing of the live boats and still livelier, the barge men, tow boys, cooks and lockkeepers which make up the life of the canal in summer."
[text with photos left from . . . — — Map (db m95905) HM
In 1859, the Chesapeake and Ohio operated from Cumberland to Georgetown. In that year an anonymous writer signed on as a crew member to work a canal boat. Follow the voyage of Williamsport canal boat Captain Cross and his crew. Travel down the C&O . . . — — Map (db m242046) HM
Williamsport was an important crossing point on the Potomac River. In 1863 Light's Ford was described as "the best ford on the river," and Union and Confederate troops crossed here repeatedly. Union armies forded the river in June and July 1861, and . . . — — Map (db m95543) HM
With the canal came industry and commerce, and that was no exception at Lock 44. While the only structures left standing at this pot are Lockhouse 44 and the lock, during the operating days of the canal businesses existed here. The Steffey and . . . — — Map (db m95854) HM
On June 5, 1861 Dewitt Clinton Rench came to Williamsport on business for his father, a local farmer. Angered at the presence of a Confederate sympathizer, a crowd of men demanded that he leave town. Rench refused until a prominent citizen advised . . . — — Map (db m95569) HM
The origin of River View Cemetery dates back to the November session of the General Assembly of Maryland in the year 1786 when it was incorporated by special act of that body. The land was donated to the town of Williamsport by General Otho Holland . . . — — Map (db m51875) HM
Part of an original grant of 10,000 acres known as Conococheague Manor, the mansion house was built early in the 1800's and tradition attributes its design to Benjamin H. Latrobe. It is noted for its Adam woodwork and for its great hall with a . . . — — Map (db m7997) HM
The mountains provided Gen. Robert E. Lee with cover. As his army of 75,000 men and 272 pieces of artillery rumbled north through Washington County, the U.S. Army commander did not know his whereabouts because South Mountain, to the east, shielded . . . — — Map (db m39310) HM
Home of Brig. Gen. Otho Holland Williams, Revolutionary War hero and founder, 1786, of Williamsport, and of Col. Elie Williams, president of commission to lay out National Road and chief surveyor Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. President George . . . — — Map (db m3909) HM
Following the war, the unmarked graves of the Confederate dead were scattered across Washington County. Many were in poor condition and exposed to the elements by farmers and animals.
In 1869, the trustees of the Antietam National Cemetery . . . — — Map (db m95545) HM
The town of Williamsport, like many of Maryland's small towns, furnished scores of its citizens for the war effort. The boys of Williamsport served with distinction in many of the states finest units like the 1st MD Cavalry, companies of the . . . — — Map (db m170612) HM
The C&O Canal was an important transportation line during the Civil War, and was a frequent target of attack from both sides.
Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's troops attempted to breat Dam Nos. 4 & 5 in the winter of 1861-62. . . . — — Map (db m95567) HM
Though the C&O Canal construction started in 1828, it did not reach Williamsport until 1833. During that year of construction a Cholera epidemic broke out that took the lives of 33 people. The following year the Canal and Aqueduct were completed in . . . — — Map (db m95940) HM
In August 2017, we began an 18-month project to restore the Conococheague Aqueduct to its 1920s appearance and function. Using modern engineering standards and materials, the completed project will result in the only watered aqueduct on the canal. . . . — — Map (db m152238) HM
In May 1861, Company I, 13th Massachusetts Infantry was on patrol in Harpers Ferry, and found the engine house where John Brown's raid ended on October 17, 1859. The bell was still in place, and knowing their hometown hook and ladder company needed . . . — — Map (db m131803) HM
In 1987 the Town of Williamsport purchased the heart of what was once the large and successful farming operation at Springfield Farm. Springfield Barn is one of the largest barns in the state of Maryland. This enormous eight-bay frame barn is 56 . . . — — Map (db m131805) HM
Following the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederate wounded, numbering between 8,000 and 10,000, were gathered to retreat to Virginia. A wagon train of 1,200 wagons, ambulances, buckboards and carriages, led by Brigadier General John D. Imboden, . . . — — Map (db m131808) HM
Following the Battle of Gettysburg, the retreating Confederate troops and ambulance train occupied Williamsport, trapped by the impassible Potomac. Expecting an attack, Brigadier General John D. Imboden set up defensive positions along the crest of . . . — — Map (db m131806) HM
More bad news arrived for the Confederates retreating from Gettysburg on July 6, 1863—Union cavalry was in hot pursuit. With the flooded Potomac River preventing Gen. John D. Imboden’s escape at Williamsport, and lacking Gen. Robert E. Lee’s main . . . — — Map (db m203031) HM
Early History
Williamsport was along the heavily traveled "Indian Trail" and occupied by the Iroquois, Delaware, Catawba, Algonquin and Massawomenkes tribes. The settlement was known as Conococheague, an Indian name meaning either "a long . . . — — Map (db m95939) HM
On June 15, 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s second invasion of the North began here as 2,000 of Gen. Albert G. Jenkins’s infantrymen splashed across the Potomac River. For the next eleven days, almost 50,000 soldiers under Gens. James . . . — — Map (db m1117) HM
Williamsport was used by Union General Patterson crossing on July 2, 1861, Confederate General Jackson moving against Harper's Ferry on September 11, 1862, and General Lee advancing with much of his army to, and retreating from, Gettysburg in June . . . — — Map (db m3910) HM
An important point during the French and Indian War 1753-1758.
George Washington
given authority to locate the "Federal City" at any point on the Potomac between Conococheague and the eastern branch. He inspected this site October 1790 but . . . — — Map (db m3911) HM
William’s Port lay on the edge of the Maryland frontier in 1787 when founded by Revolutionary War hero General Otho Holland Williams. In 1790 this river town nearly became capital of the United States when President George Washington personally . . . — — Map (db m60583) HM
[Left plaque:]
Honoring all veterans of Washington County Maryland
who fought to retain the freedom of the United States of America, and saved the world from tyrrany.
The great armies of World War II were made up of . . . — — Map (db m131802) WM