Creagerstown is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Frederick County, Maryland Frederick County is located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick. Frederick County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ...

, United States. It is playfully known by its residents as "4 miles from everywhere" because of its situation at from Thurmont, Woodsboro, Rocky Ridge, and Lewistown. The town consists of about 40 buildings, including three churches and a small school building. A number of the buildings in the town can be classified as historical and the ruins of older buildings can also be found. Creagerstown is additionally the home to both Creagerstown Park and Creagerstown Cemetery.

Maryland Route 550 Maryland Route 550 (MD 550) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs from MD 26 in Libertytown north to Pen Mar Road in Fort Ritchie. MD 550 runs southeast–northwest across central Frederick County, c ...

passes through Creagerstown on its way towards Loys Station in the form of Creagerstown Road.

History

Founding

The town originally grew up as an important crossroads for stagecoaches around a major Indian trail known as the Monocacy Road. The Monocacy Road connected the area to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Creagerstown is located at a crossroads where the Monocacy Road connected to another road that ran between

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The earliest settlement of the area was in the early 1700s by German immigrants. Sometime between 1760 and 1770, John Creager laid out Creagerstown, which would eventually supplant nearby

Monocacy Monocacy (Shawnee language, Shawnee: ''Monnockkeseymay'') may refer to the Monocacy River in Maryland, USA. Monocacy may also refer to: Other streams *Little Monocacy River, a tributary of the Potomac River in Maryland *Monocacy Creek (Lehigh Riv ...

Growth

The town experienced steady growth for a number of years. In 1775, the first house in Creagerstown was built by Isaac Kolb. In 1785, a tannery opened in town; it would operate until 1810. Around the same time that the tannery closed, a German brewery opened in Creagerstown. In 1866, the church from Monocacy was reconstructed in Creagerstown and became known as Union Bethel Church. By 1858 Creagerstown contained a doctor's office, two stores, a hotel, a church, a parsonage, and a school. Growing further by 1873, Creagerstown also contained a blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, and another church. By 1910, the population of Creagerstown was 200. At one point, there was a tavern on every corner in the town square.

Fire of June 2, 1914

On June 2, 1914, around 10 am, a major fire broke out in Monocacy Valley Creamery and destroyed about 30 buildings, causing somewhere between $60,000 and $70,000 worth of damages. The fire was caused accidentally when a spark from a fire set by a man in the creamery ignited the roof. Strong winds fanned the flames, allowing the blaze to cross the road and gaps between buildings. Creagerstown had no fire department to put out the fire. The town hall was burned down and the fire also destroyed all of the hotels owned by the Valentine family, though the Valley Hotel was eventually rebuilt. Between 1920 and 1930 a number of houses in the town were reconstructed. But by 1930 other road improvements and other highways, such as the Frederick and Emmitsburg railroads, had been constructed throughout Frederick and Creagerstown never recovered.

Historical buildings

Most of the buildings in Creagerstown were built between the early 19th century and early 20th century and are made out of log, brick, or stone. The Maryland State Historic Sites Inventory Form for Creagerstown states that "the town demonstrates building forms spanning over 100 years." Many of the houses have smaller agricultural buildings in the back of their lots. Most of the commercial buildings are located towards the center of the town. There are a number of notable historical buildings in Creagerstown including the Georgian-style farmhouse

Strawberry Hill Strawberry Hill may refer to: United Kingdom *Strawberry Hill, London, England **Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole's Gothic revival villa **Strawberry Hill railway station United States *Strawberry Hill (San Francisco), California *Strawberry ...

which is located on Creagerstown Road and is not in the town proper, but is located in the Creagerstown Election District. Along with Pennterra, Strawberry Hill was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1976.

St. John's Church St. John's Church, Church of St. John, or variants, thereof, (Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Baptist, but also, sometimes, to John the Apostle or John the Evangelist) may refer to the following churches, former churches or other ...

, built in 1908 and located on Blacks Mill Rd, is also in Creagerstown. St. John's Church was built to replace the original St. John's Lutheran Church which was built in the 1850s. Still standing in the town is a small schoolhouse, built in 1855, and the Union Bethel church, a one-story stone church built in 1866.

References

External links

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Frederick County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland Populated places established in 1750