Pleasant Valley is a small valley in Washington County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Geography

The valley is bound by South Mountain to the east, Elk Ridge to the west and the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

to the south. To the north the valley opens up to connect with the

Hagerstown Valley Hagerstown Valley is located in Maryland in the United States. It is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, which continues northward as Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania, and southward as Shenandoah Valley in West Virginia and Virginia. Hagerstown ...

near

Boonsboro Boonsboro is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States, located at the foot of South Mountain. It nearly borders Frederick County and is proximate to the Antietam National Battlefield. The population was 3,336 at the 2010 census. ...

. The northern definition of Pleasant Valley is the watershed divide between the Israel Creek and the Little Antietam Creek, both tributaries of the

. This northern watershed boundary lies to the north of the little town of Gapland (on Israel Creek) and to the south of Rohrersville (a town in the Little Antietam Creek drainage area). Geographically the valley is an extension of the

Between the Hills Between the Hills is a small valley in northwest Loudoun County, Virginia, distinct from, but associated with, the greater Loudoun Valley. Geography The Between the Hills valley encompasses the area of Loudoun that lies west of Short Hill Mountai ...

valley south of the Potomac in

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 ...

. The Short Hill fault, which separates Elk Ridge from South Mountain runs along the east edge of Pleasant Valley, along the west flank of South Mountain.

History

The eastern side of Pleasant Valley, on the slope of South Mountain is the location of William Park's "''Park Hall.''" Surveyed in 1731 it was the first land tract (legally) patented by a Euromerican in what would eventually become Washington County. Pleasant Valley is on the east side of Elk Ridge mountain. On the opposite (west side) of Elk Ridge is the historic

Kennedy farm The Kennedy Farm is a National Historic Landmark property on Chestnut Grove Road in rural southern Washington County, Maryland. It is notable as the place where the radical abolitionist John Brown planned and began his raid on Harpers Ferry, Vi ...

where

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

and his followers stayed prior to their raid on nearby

Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. A handful of John Brown's men escaped from the Federal soldiers after the raid was defeated, and the escape route that these men took went north 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, ...

following Elk Ridge and South Mountain. The escaping raiders crossed from Elk Ridge mountain to South Mountain in the area around Rohrersville, to the north of Pleasant Valley. Nestled at the foot of Elk Ridge on the west side of the lower valley is the community of Yarrowsburg, named for early (1830s) free African-American residents Aquilla and Polly Yarrow. During the Antietam Campaign of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Pleasant Valley was the site of a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

picket line, intended to prevent General

George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate of West Point, McCl ...

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

from coming to the rescue of the Union garrison in Harpers Ferry. Later, after the

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

, the farmland of Pleasant Valley was filled with tents of soldiers from the Union Army—Pleasant Valley was a designated bivouac for rest and recovery after the battle.

References

Valleys of Maryland Landforms of Washington County, Maryland {{WashingtonCountyMD-geo-stub