Nestled among the quaint small towns and rolling
hills of Frederick County is the village of Burkittsville,
Maryland. Named after an early settler by the name of Henry
Burkitt, Burkittsville remains a portrait of what "life" must have
been like in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Main Street
flourished with places of worship, residences, and stores while
being surrounded by fields, mountainous views and a "dense woods"
to the west.
This
rural environment has set the tone for strong values which continue
to be shared here. Burkittsville is true to its town motto
"Neighbor Helping Neighbor". The lifestyle here is a chosen one
which continues to honor family, friends and neighbors as well as
the faiths and traditions handed down through generations.Lutheran
and Reformed churches, homes, and trade establishments distributed
the length of Main Street, are bordered at rear by broad fields
adjoining town. Crampton's Gap in South Mountain rises to the west
side of town. Often characterized as a 'time capsule,' the town
retains its time-honored visual characteristics and comfortable,
homey patina. The thin strand of buildings comprising Main Street
is bordered by croplands and dairy farms. Once the lifeblood of the
community, commercial support enterprises have given way to a
largely residential flavor.
Within the past century only the automobile has
altered Burkittsville's leisurely pace. Rising at the crossroads of
the Conococheague and Seneca trails, the village evolved as
'Harley's Store' taking its name from early settler Joshua Harley
of eastern Maryland, a Revolutionary War veteran who erected the
first dry goods establishment. A post office was granted in 1824,
altering the popular name to 'Harley's Post Office,' what now
comprises West Main Street. Upon Harleys death in 1828 the name was
changed to Burkittsville in consideration of dominant property
owner Henry Burkitt (1767-1836), originally of Bucks County,
Pennsylvania. The Burkitt estate equity case of 1839 established
lots comprising most of East Main Street. Burkitt's farm carries
the land grant title 'Friends Good Will.' The Main Street stem
arose on 'Addition to Friends Good Will.
Sole exception to Burkittsville's pastoral calm was
the Battle of Crampton's Gap, September 14, 1862, a bloody prelude
to the Battle of Antietam three days later. Though some town
inhabitants fled to safety, others remained to cheer on Union
troops marching though town into combat while artillery shells
exploded about the town. Its churches and many of its houses were
used as hospitals for months after. In 1884 noted Maryland author
George Alfred Townsend (1841-1914) purchased the land in Crampton's
Gap for an eccentric private estate he called 'Gapland.' He erected
the War Correspondents Memorial Arch to Civil War journalists in
1896, now the centerpiece of a state park closely associated with
the town. In 1975 Burkittsville in its entirety was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its
multi-layered value to the state and nation. It remains a prime
tourist destination, notably for Civil War
aficionados.
