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Frederick, Maryland
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Frederick is a city in west-central Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the State of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a total population of 59,220, making it the second largest incorporated area in Maryland, behind Baltimore.
Frederick is home to Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), which primarily accommodates general aviation traffic, and to the U.S.
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Encyclopedia
Frederick is a city in west-central Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the State of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a total population of 59,220, making it the second largest incorporated area in Maryland, behind Baltimore.
Frederick is home to Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), which primarily accommodates general aviation traffic, and to the U.S. Army's Fort Detrick, the largest employer in the county. Frederick is also home to BP Solar, which is the second largest employer in the county and one of the largest solar panel factories in the country.
History
“Frederick Town” was laid out by Daniel Dulany (a land speculator) in 1745,
and settled by a German immigrant party led by a young German Reformed schoolmaster from the Rhineland Palatinate named Johann Thomas Schley (d. 1790), who came to the Maryland colony with his wife, Maria Winz. They built the first house of the new town which into the 20th century stood at the corner of Middle Alley and East Patrick Street. The settlement was founded upon a tract of land granted by Daniel Dulany on the banks of Carroll Creek. Within three years the settlement had become the county seat of Frederick County.
It is uncertain which Frederick the town was named for, but the likeliest candidates are Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore,
Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales,
and Frederick II "The Great" of Prussia.
Most sources agree it was named for Frederick Calvert.
Schley's first task as leader of the settlement party was the foundation of a German Reformed Church (today the church is known as Evangelical Reformed Church, UCC), which also served immediately as a public school, in keeping with the German Reformed tradition of sponsoring universal public education. Many of the Pennsylvania Dutch settled in Frederick as they migrated westward in the late 18th Century. Frederick was a stop along the German migration route that led down through the "Great Valley" (Shenandoah Valley, etc.) all the way to the western Piedmont in North Carolina.
The city served as a major crossroads from colonial times. British General Braddock marched west through Frederick on the way to the fateful ambush near Fort Pitt during the French and Indian War. To control this crossroads during the American Revolution, the British garrisoned a Hessian regiment in the town during the war (the barracks still stand). The Schleys were activists for the American Revolution and had been a military family in Germany, with one ancestor holding high rank at the Battle of Parma in 1714. One of Johann Thomas Schley's sons, Col. George Jacob Schley, served in the Maryland line of the Continental Army. Afterwards, with no way to return to their homeland, the men of the Hessian regiment stayed on and married into the families of the town, strengthening its German identity. Later, when President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the building of the National Road from Baltimore to St. Louis, the "National Pike" ran through Frederick along Patrick Street.
From these beginnings, Frederick grew to an important market town, but by the first third of the 19th century, the town had also become one of the leading mining counties of the United States, producing gold, copper, limestone, marble, iron and other minerals. As early as the American Revolution, Catoctin Furnace near Thurmont had been a significant site for iron production.
When the first wave of Irish refugees from the potato famine settled in the city in 1846, one of the leading members of the Schley family married into the Wilson family from Ireland. Consequently, many of the Schleys converted to Catholicism and residents of Frederick began to speak English for the first time in the town's history — up until then, the language had been German. Frederick was known during the nineteenth century for its religious pluralism, with one of its main thoroughfares, Church Street, hosting half-a-dozen major churches. The main Catholic Church, St. John's, was built in 1800, then rebuilt in 1837 (across the street) one block north of Church Street on East Second Street, where it still stands. Together, these churches dominated the town, set against the backdrop of the first ridge of the Appalachians, Catoctin Mountain. The abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier immortalized this view of Frederick in his poem to Barbara Fritchie: "The clustered spires of Frederick stand — greenwalled in the hills of Maryland."
Frederick's status as a major crossroads put the town at the center of the Maryland campaigns of the Civil War, during which both Union and Confederate troops marched through the city. General Stonewall Jackson led his light infantry division through Frederick on his way to the battles of Crampton's, Fox's and Turner's Gaps and Antietam in September 1862, leading to an incident with Pennsylvania Dutch resident Barbara Fritchie commemorated in the poem of the same name by John Greenleaf Whittier. Major General Jesse L. Reno's IX Corps followed Jackson's men through the city a few days later on the way to the Battle of South Mountain.
The family also possessed a deep streak of military nationalism, probably from its German heritage. Thus, during the Civil War, Major Henry Schley, brother of Colonel Edward Schley (d. 1857), at the age of 72 fought for the Union as the aide de camp to General Lew Wallace, one of Grant's key adjutants at the Battle of Shiloh (1862), along with Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Don Carlos Buell. General Wallace also fought Confederate General Jubal Early outside of Frederick at the Battle of Monocacy in 1864 (below). Major Henry Schley's son, Dr. Fairfax Schley, became a prominent civic leader after the war, and was instrumental in setting up the Frederick County Agricultural Society and the Great Frederick Fair. A cousin, Admiral Winfield Scott Schley served in the United States Navy from 1860 through the Spanish American War, where he led the American fleet to victory over the Spanish at Santiago Bay in 1898. Gilmer Schley served as Mayor from 1919-1922 and the Schleys remained one of the town's leading families into the late twentieth century. Nathaniel Wilson Schley, son of Gilmer Schley, became a prominent banker at the Farmers and Mechanics Citizens' National Bank. His wife, Mary Margaret Schley, was a Daughter of the American Revolution, a perennial leader of the Garden Society and a life member of the Frederick County Agricultural Society (FCAS), sponsor and organizer of the annual Great Frederick Fair, one of the two largest agricultural fairs in the State (with the annual State Fair at Timonium, Maryland). Their son, Donald Gilmer Schley, along with John T. Best, Gordon Smith, Frank Stauffer, Emmons C. Sanner and other FCAS board members worked in the late 1960s to shift the nightly entertainment at the then declining Fair from a New York stage-show and Borscht-belt comedian venue to a country western venue. At first they brought stars such as Barbara and Louise Mandrell, and over the later years Reba McEntire, Lee Greenwood, LeAnn Rimes, Loretta Lynn, Sawyer Brown, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Randy Travis, George Jones and many other outstanding country-western stars to the annual September event, making the Fair the site of a major annual country-western festival. Schley Avenue commemorates the family's role in the city's heritage.
Frederick also had Jewish residents as early as the 1740s, when pioneers Henry Lazarus and Levy Cohan settled there as merchants. An organized Jewish community, comprised mainly of German Jewish immigrants, took shape in the mid-19th Century and the Frederick Hebrew Congregation was organized in 1858. Later the congregation lapsed, but was reorganized in 1919 as a cooperative effort between the older settlers and more recently arrived Eastern European Jews under the name Beth Sholom. Another congregation was formed in 2003 called Kol Ami of Frederick.
In 1905, Rev. E.B. Hatcher started the First Baptist Church of Frederick.
In 1921, the first high school for African-Americans was founded at 170 West All Saints Street. Later it moved to 250 Madison Street, where it eventually became South Frederick Elementary. The building still stands and presently houses the Lincoln Elementary School.
Sites of historical interest
Several historic Civil War landmarks are located in and around Frederick. Frederick was the site of a Civil War speech given by President Abraham Lincoln, which took place at what was then a train depot at the current intersection of South and Market Streets. A plaque commemorates the speech.
At the Prospect Hall mansion on what is now Butterfly Lane, in the early morning hours of June 28, 1863, a messenger from President Abraham Lincoln arrived to inform General George Meade that he would be replacing General Joseph Hooker replacement. The Army of the Potomac, which camped at Prospect Hall for weeks prior to Gettysburg, went on from there to fight several major battles. The National Museum of Civil War Medicine is located downtown.
Due west along Alternate US 40, and west of Burkittsville, Maryland, lie the sites of the three episodes in the Battle of South Mountain: the battles of Crampton's (September 14, 1862), Fox's, and Turner's Gaps, where Confederate troops under Jackson and Walker unsuccessfully attempted to halt the Federal army's advance into the Cumberland Valley. The war correspondents' memorial can be found at Gathland State Park at Crampton's Gap, just west of Burkittsville. The memorial to the slain Union General Jesse Reno lies on the south side of Alternate US 40, west of Middletown, just below the summit of Fox's Gap.
Twenty-one miles southwest of Frederick lies historic Harper's Ferry, which dominates the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. Here stood a key Federal arsenal. In 1859, Kansas Abolitionist John Brown seized these works, only to be surrounded and captured by a Federal force under Robert E. Lee. Early on September 17, 1862, Confederate General A. P. Hill raided the arsenal at Harper's Ferry to re-equip his own division. When a rider arrived at 1 pm that afternoon informing Hill of Lee's desperate situation at Sharpsburg, Hill ordered his 6000 men to form ranks and march at double-time to Lee's aid at Antietam (Sharpsburg). Hill drove his division to cover the 17 miles between Harper's Ferry and the battlefield in just three hours, losing 2/3 of his battle strength due to heat exhaustion and sunstroke along the way, but arriving "in the nick of time" to turn back Burnside's men, who were just forcing the bridge across Antietam Creek.
Collectors still find Civil War artifacts in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, especially on Maryland Heights above the town on the Maryland side of the Potomac. The Monocacy Battlefield lies just outside the city limits, while Antietam and Gettysburg lie approximately thirty-five miles to the west and north, respectively.
The home of Barbara Fritchie, the woman who (according to legend) waved the Stars and Stripes in defiance of Confederate commander Stonewall Jackson and his troops as they marched through downtown Frederick, stands as another key historical site. These events are the subject of an 1864 poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. Barbara Fritchie is buried in Frederick's Mt. Olivet cemetery next to Governor Thomas Johnson and Francis Scott Key.
Other notable Fredericktonians include John Hanson, the first President of Congress under the Articles of Confederation, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, who authored the controversial Dred Scott Decision on the eve of the Civil War. Taney Avenue memorializes him. Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Frederick is the resting place of Francis Scott Key, the author of the National Anthem of the United States, "The Star-Spangled Banner." Buried in the All Saints' Parish Cemetery is Thomas Sim Lee (1745–1819), who served two terms as Governor of Maryland. Lee was influential in the enactment of Statehood for Maryland and played an important role in completing the formation of the union in 1781.
Notable houses
Possibly the oldest house in the City of Frederick is Schifferstadt, built in 1756 by German settler Joseph Brunner. It is now the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum.
In 1814, eminent ophthalmologist Dr. John Tyler built the famed Tyler Spite House at 112 W Church Street in Frederick to spite the City of Frederick by preventing the city from extending Record Street south through Tyler's land to meet West Patrick Street (also named Maryland Route 144). The Tyler Spite House now serves as the office of .
Geography
Frederick is located in Frederick County in the western part of the State of Maryland. The city has served as a major crossroads since colonial times. Today it is located at the junction of Interstate 70, Interstate 270, U.S. Route 340, U.S. Route 40, U.S. Route 40 Alternate and U.S. Route 15. In relation to nearby cities, Frederick lies northwest of Washington, DC, west of Baltimore, Maryland, southeast of Hagerstown, Maryland, and southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The city's coordinates 39°25'35" North, 77°25'13" West (39.426294, -77.420403).
According to a 2004 report by the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.4 square miles (52.9 km²). The city's area is predominantly land, with the only water being the Monocacy River, which runs to the east of the city, Carroll Creek (which runs through the city and causes periodic floods, such as that during the summer of 1972), and Culler Lake, a man-made small body in the downtown area.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 52,767 people, 20,891 households, and 12,787 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,584.4 people per square mile (997.7/km²). There are 22,106 housing units at an average density of 1,082.7/sq mi (418.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 79.1% White, 16.0% Black or African American, 0.8% Native American, 3.8% Asian American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.9% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. 4.80% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
For those 20,891 households, 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% are married couples living together, 12.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% are non-families. 30.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.42 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the city, the population has 25.1% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34.7 years. For every 100 females there are 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.4 males.
According to sample data, from 1999, the median income for a household in the city is $47,700, and the median income for a family is $56,778. Males have a median income of $38,399 versus $27,732 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,053. 7.4% of the population and 4.8% of families are below the poverty line. 6.8% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Government
City executive
The current city executive or Mayor of Frederick is William J. Holtzinger.
Previous Mayors include:
- Lawrence Brengle (1817)
- Hy Kuhn (1818–1820)
- George Baer, Jr. (1820–1823)
- John L. Harding (1823–1826)
- George Kolb (1826–1829)
- Thomas Carlton (1829–1835)
- Daniel Kolb (1835–1838)
- Michael Baltzell (1838–1841)
- George Hoskins (1841–1847)
- M. E. Bartgis (1847–1849)
- James Bartgis (1849–1856)
- Lewis Brunner (1856–1859)
- W. G. Cole (1859–1865)
- J. Engelbrecht (1865–1868)
- Valerius Ebert (1868–1871)
- Thomas M. Holbruner (1871–1874)
- Lewis M. Moberly (1874–1883)
- Hiram Bartgis (1883–1889)
- Lewis H. Doll (1889–1890)
- Lewis Brunner (1890–1892)
- John E. Fleming (1892–1895)
- Aquilla R. Yeakle (1895–1898)
- William F. Chilton (1898–1901)
- George Edward Smith (1901–1910)
- John Edward Schell (1910–1913)
- Lewis H. Fraley (1913–1919)
- Gilmer Schley (1919–1922)
- Lloyd C. Culler (1922–1931)
- Elmer F. Munshower (1931–1934)
- Lloyd C. Culler (1934–1943)
- Hugh V. Gittinger (1943–1946)
- Lloyd C. Culler (1946–1950)
- Elmer F. Munshower (1950–1951)
- Donald B. Rice (1951–1954)
- John A. Derr (1954–1958)
- Jacob R. Ramsburg (1958–1962)
- E. Paul Magaha (1962–1966)
- John A. Derr (1966–1970)
- E. Paul Magaha (1970–1974)
- Ronald N. Young (1974–1990)
- Paul P. Gordon (1990–1994)
- James S. Grimes (1994–2002)
- Jennifer Dougherty (2002–2006)
- W. Jeff Holtzinger (2006-
Representative body
Frederick has a Board of Aldermen of six members (one of whom is the Mayor) which serves as its legislative body. Elections are held every 4 years. The current board was elected November 1, 2005, and consists of Marcia Hall, David Koontz, Alan Imhoff, C. Paul Smith, and Donna Kuzemchak Ramsburg.
Culture
Cityscape
Frederick is well-known for the Clustered Spires skyline of its historic downtown buildings. These spires are depicted on the city's seal and many other city-affiliated logos and insignia.
Frederick has a bridge covered with a mural called the "." The artist, William Cochran, has been acclaimed for the realism of the painting. Thousands of people sent ideas representing community that appear throughout the stonework of the bridge. To the people of Frederick, it is called "the mural", "painted bridge", or more commonly known to the people as the "mural bridge."
Arts
The is the designated arts organization for Frederick County. The organization is charged with promoting, supporting, and advocating the arts, a thriving community in the city. There are over ten art galleries in downtown Frederick, and three theaters are located within 50 feet of each other (Cultural Arts Center, Weinberg Center for the Arts, and the Maryland Ensemble Theatre). Frederick is the home of the Maryland Shakespeare Festival.
In August 2007, the streets of Frederick were adorned with 30 life-size fiberglass keys as part of a major public art project entitled "."
In October of 2007, Artist William Cochran created a large scale glass project titled . The project is on the east face of the Francis Scott Key Apartments in downtown Frederick.
Theatre
Frederick is home to The Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET), a professional theater company, which resides on the lower level of the Francis Scott Key Hotel. The MET first produced mainstage theatre in 1997, however, the group first performed together with the creation of The Comedy Pigs sketch comedy/improv troupe in April of 1993.
Frederick also has its own community orchestra, , that performs five concerts per year consisting of classical masterpieces.
Other musical organizations in Frederick include the Frederick Chorale, the Choral Arts Society of Frederick, the Frederick Regional Youth Orchestra, and the Frederick Symphonic Band.
Frederick is home to which is a chorus that has been raising young voices in song since 1985. The chorus is a five tier chorus with approximately 150 members ranging in age from 5-18.
A weekly carillon recital is played on the Joseph Dill Baker Carillon each Sunday at noon for half an hour. The carillon can be heard from anywhere in Baker Park, or the City Carillonneur can be viewed playing in the tower, which is open each week at that time.
Frederick is home to Frederick School of Classical Ballet, the official school for Maryland Regional Ballet. Approximately 30 dance studios are located around Frederick. Each year, these studios have an opportunity to perform at the annual DanceFest event.
Cultural organizations
Frederick is home of several liberal organizations including the Peace Resource Center of Frederick County, an installation of Women in Black, and the Frederick Progressive Action Coalition or FredPac.
Media
Frederick is licensed one Maryland Public Television station affiliate: WFPT 62 (PBS/MPT).
The city is home to WFMD (930AM - News/Talk/Sports), WFRE (99.9FM - Country Music), and WAFY (103.1FM - Adult Contemporary) radio stations. The following box details all of the radio stations in the local market.
Frederick's newspaper of record is The Frederick News-Post.
Sports
Education
Public schools
Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) operates area public schools.
High Schools in Frederick City and County:
Other Public Schools: Adult Education, Career and Technology Center, Heather Ridge School, Outdoor School, Rock Creek School, and The Earth and Space Science Laboratory.
Private high schools
- Saint John's Catholic Prep (at Prospect Hall)
- New Life Christian School
- Frederick Christian Academy
- The Banner School
K-12 Schools
Colleges and universities
Transportation
From 1896 to 1961, Frederick was served by the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway, an interurban trolley service that was among the last surviving systems of its kind in the United States.
Currently, the city is served by MARC commuter rail service, which operates several trains daily to Washington, D.C., Express bus route 991, which operates to the Shady Grove Metrorail Station, and a series of buses operated by TransIT services of Frederick, Maryland.
Frederick has an airport with a mile long runway and a second 3600' runway. It is the home airport of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association due to its proximity to Washington D.C. and ability to handle small twin engine jets.
Notable residents and natives
- Joe Alexander (basketball player) (1986), Named to the 2007 All-Big East squad, also an All-American Honorable Mention.
- Michael Beasley (1989), NCAA National Player of the Year (2007-08), 2nd overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft by Miami Heat.
- Lester Bowie (1941-1999), jazz trumpeter and improviser, was born in the historically-black hamlet of Bartonsville. The Bowie family has deep roots in the Linganore-Bartonsville, Maryland area of Frederick County. He is buried in Bartonsville.
- Chuck Foreman, NFL running back. Foreman was a native of Frederick and was a football, basketball and track standout at Frederick High School.
- Barbara Fritchie, American patriot during Civil War (1766-1862), who purportedly defied Stonewall Jackson's Confederates by waving a union flag from her window as they marched through Frederick on their way to the eventual battles at South Mountain and Sharpsburg in September 1862.
- David Gallaher, (June 5,1975) a professional writer whose second book, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar is set in 1950s Frederick. Gallaher is also an alumnus of Hood College.
- Shawn Hatosy, (December 29,1975) a professional actor.
- Bruce Ivins
- Bradley Tyler Johnson, (1829-1903), Soldier, lawyer, and politician.
- Thomas Johnson (1732–1819) was a distinguished American jurist and political figure of the revolutionary and post-revolutionary period. In his later years he lived with his daughter Ann and her husband at Rose Hill Manor, in Frederick. Governor Thomas Johnson High School, located on the property, bears his name.
- Francis Scott Key (1779-1843), lawyer, author of "The Star-Spangled Banner". He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick. His family plot is next to Thomas Johnson and friend Barbara Fritchie.
- Terence Morris, (January 11, 1979) professional NBA basketball player. Attended Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, class of 1997
- John Nelson, U.S. Attorney General, (1843-1845), U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 4th District, (1821-1823), born in Frederick in 1791.
- Winfield Scott Schley (9 October 1839 - 2 October 1911), rear admiral of the United States Navy who served from the Civil War to the Spanish-American War, was born in Richfields, near Frederick.
- Roger Brooke Taney, Judge, (1777-1864) Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1836-1864) who rendered the Dred Scott Decision in 1857
Sister cities
External links
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