Located at the narrowest portion of Maryland, where the Appalachian Mountains divide the eastern part of the state from the western portion, Washington County is an area of natural beauty with hills and rivers, stone bridges and farmhouses. The Great Appalachian Valley, which extends south into Virginia as the Shenandoah Valley was an ancient hunting ground of a number of different native American tribes. It is said that when the earliest Europeans ventured over the mountains they found a largely open valley full of bison, bears, deer, wolves, bobcats, mountain lions, foxes, beavers and more.
The first Europeans land speculators came to this region in the early 1700s, before the French and Indian War, but more permanent settlement came after that conflict ended in 1763. In 1776 the county was formed from Frederick County and next year the shares its 250th anniversary with the nation. Washington County, MD was the first in the nation to be named for George Washington. A later war is remembered in this county because of its effects upon the landscape and on people’s memories. The Battle of Antietam and smaller skirmishes took place here in the American Civil War and they left their mark on the county. Indeed, hardly a site on this tour was untouched by it.
The Antietam Battlefield is one of the most completely preserved in the U.S. and the tour today is raising money for the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area which operates a visitor center located in the Newcomer House just outside of Sharpsburg on route 34. The house witnessed the 1862 battle. Here, the civilian experience is interpreted and visitors may learn about things to see and do while in the area, and how to extend their history experiences in Washington, Frederick and Carroll counties. Farms on and around the battlefield were damaged, burned and pillaged as two large armies met on the fields nearby. The Newcomer House will be open on the day of the tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please stop by to see where the funds raised by this tour will be used.​
Tour Headquarters:
Beaver Creek School Event Center located at 9702 Beaver Creek Church Rd. We are beginning the tour in a schoolhouse in Beaver Creek, southeast of Hagerstown. Tickets for the tour may be purchased here and online ticket purchases and tour bells may be exchanged for admission tickets, along with the tour book giving the full description and address of each property. Swag bags with goodies from Washington County businesses will be given out to tour goers. The Beaver Creek school operated from 1904-1961 and many area residents still remember their time in this two room school. It has been fully restored and visitors will see original desks, the pot bellied stove that kept the children and their teacher warm on cold winter days and the original slate blackboards which were hidden behind the walls and were found in the renovation. This is a look at how many of America’s rural children were educated in the early 1900s. This space is now available for events and as a community meeting place. Parking is available at the school or across the street in the church parking lot. Restrooms are available here.
Next the tour moves on to the Beaver Creek settlement across the creek, with a tour of two properties. The first is Doub’s Mill, a private home and garden, and then on to Cool Hollow Flower Farm, also a private property open today as a special event.
Doub’s Mill is the second grist mill on the site and was built in 1811. The current owners have beautifully renovated the large building to accommodate modern life. It’s a thrill to stand inside and look at the river as it runs through the building. The owners are avid gardeners and visitors will enjoy walking behind the mill, past the newly restored cooper’s shed to see their lovely gardens beside the creek.
Cool Hollow Flower Farm is just up stream from the mill, built by Henry Newcomer for his son Joel. The house, barn and smoke house are all stone structures and were built in the late 1700s. Six years ago the owners, having finished a ten year whole house renovation, opened a flower farm on their property. This property is open only by appointment, so enjoy the walk through the 1790s stone farmhouse, the workshop and a large picket fenced garden. Three high tunnels grow flowers throughout the year and a large dahlia growing area is near the barn. Behind the house is a view down to Beaver Creek. The children who lived in this home in the early 1900s attended school in the Beaver Creek schoolhouse by crossing the river and walking up the hill to school.
From here the tour takes you into Hagerstown to the gem at the center of Hagerstown: the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts set in City Park at 401 Museum Drive, Hagerstown, MD The museum houses American works by artists such as Thomas Moran, Childe Hassam, Frederic Church, Thomas Cole and Albert Bierstadt as well as a collection of Old Masters and Modern Art. The core of the museum’s collection is that of William H. Singer, Jr., an American artist who painted largely in Europe. He and his wife built and donated the museum and much of their collection of artwork to the county in 1931. Restrooms are available here.
Next to the museum is the home of Jonathan Hager, the city’s founder, demonstrating German American life in the mid to late 1700s. It is not officially part of the tour, but will be open from 10a.m. - 4p.m. on the day of the tour.
From Hagerstown you will head southwest to Williamsport on the Potomac River. This town is said to have been considered as a place for the nation’s capital when George Washington was making the decision for the placement of the city. Washington was familiar with this county having surveyed this area when he was a young man and because Williamsport was a supply station for General Braddock’s ill-fated expedition to Fort Duquesne at the beginning of the French and Indian War, an expedition in which Washington served as an aide to the general.
A large private home in Williamsport will be open. It is a Federal style brick home built in 1816 and furnished with American federal antique furniture and both American and European artwork. The dining room has a beautiful panoramic mural wallpaper. This house served as the Confederate officer’s lodging during the retreat from Gettysburg as they waited to cross the Potomac. The study was used as a surgery to aid the hospital operating in the church next door and in the backyard soldiers were temporarily buried. The owners have recently completed a stunning renovation of this property.
Elmwood Farm, a bed and breakfast and event facility near Williamsport is the next stop. The sisters who own and operate this farm are responsible for a large amount of the work done to restore the house and outbuildings, including a large barn. They are fifth generation owners of this property and it represents an excellent example of a prosperous mid nineteenth century farm. The beautifully restored house and barn will be open for the tour and lunch will be available at this location from Captain’s Creations Food Truck from 11a.m. to 3 p.m.
Moving on to the campus of Saint James School you are invited to tour the Biggs Rectory home and garden. The home was built in 2002 in the Georgian style and is well-appointed with tasteful furnishings and decor. The school’s headmaster has carefully created and tended a garden in the English style with arbors, roses and many beautiful perennials in soft pastel colors. The garden overlooks the Bai Yuka, a spring fed pond at the heart of the campus. Restrooms are available in the Kerfoot Refectory (Cafeteria). Saint James School is an Episcopal boarding school founded in 1842. During the Civil War soldiers came onto the campus on a number of occasions and twice the school had its food supplies raided. Surprisingly they were able to operate during the Civil War until the summer of 1864, but were forced to close for the 1864-1865 school year.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Lappans Road was constructed in 1849 and is a beautiful example of Gothic Revival style architecture built using local stone. The church elevates African American narratives which are central to the church’s history. Restrooms and light refreshments will be available here. Please take the time to visit the church and see where congregants worshiped in the years just before the Civil War. During the war the church served as a hospital for the wounded from nearby fighting.
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A private home along Spielman road will be the next stop. The home is a two story brick farmhouse, built in the 1790s. It was renovated in 2021 by the current owners who added a sympathetic addition and a two story porch overlooking a pond. The property features an 1805 barn, a two story stone secondary dwelling, an ice house, brick privy and grain barn. Like Elmwood, this is an intact example of a 19th century farm.
Near Keedysville a private home which served as a hospital after the Battle of Antietam will be open for tour goers. The home is a large Georgian center hall home, built by an early member of the Maryland state legislature, with a large addition built in the mid 1830s. It sits next to one of the beautiful stone bridges which dot the county and across the road from one of its many grist mills (not open). This property truly typifies nineteenth century Washington County’s important attributes–water which acted as an engine for mills and a route for commerce and a well-built bridge which allowed farmers access to the mill.
Washington County Tour
Saturday, June 7, 2025