Yarrowsburg is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

Washington County, Maryland Washington County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. The population was 154,705 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its county seat and largest city is Hagerstown, Maryland, Hagerstown. The ...

, United States. Its population was 133 as of the 2010 census.

History

Yarrowsburg sits at the foot of Elk Ridge mountain on the west side of Pleasant Valley, stretching along Reed, Kaetzel and Yarrowsburg roads in southeastern Washington County. Until the late 19th century, Elk Ridge was wholly owned by the Antietam Iron Works. The forest was used as fuel for the furnace and forges after being converted to

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

. After being harvested and especially after the iron works went bankrupt in the 1850s, the mountain land was sold off in multi-acre lots. Many of the properties in Yarrowsburg are on former iron works property. The village is named for Aquila and Polly Yarrow, free African Americans who bought a small log house on 1 1/4 acres of land in the southeast corner of Yarrowsburg and Reed roads in 1825. The Yarrows were one of several free black families living in Yarrowsburg at the time. It is thought that Aquila worked as a collier for the iron works. Aquila died unexpectedly in 1832, but Polly lived at the village named for her until November 21, 1885. This was also the site of the only (historical) crossing of Elk Ridge mountain through the steep and rocky Solomon's Gap. Elk Ridge can only be passed otherwise by circling around its north or south ends via Trego or Sandy Hook roads. The road through Solomon's Gap was abandoned in the early 20th century and is no longer a through road. Solomon's Gap would play a role in the strategy of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

battles in the area. Yarrowsburg is today a rural village of single-family homes.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the community has an area of , all land.

Demographics

References

Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland Census-designated places in Washington County, Maryland Census-designated places in Maryland {{WashingtonCountyMD-geo-stub