You're invited to take a journey through the Maryland's Heart of the Civil War.
The Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area (HCWHA) is an area rich in history, covering portions of Carroll, Frederick and Washington Counties. It is located just below the Mason-Dixon Line, generally viewed as the dividing line between North and South, and above the Potomac River. With one foot in the north, and one foot in the south, the story of the Civil War can be told nowhere better than in this part of Maryland.
No state experienced the Civil War quite like Maryland. Residents of this border state contributed significant resources to both sides of the war effort. Although large portions of the state’s economy relied upon slavery, Maryland lawmakers did not vote to secede from the Union at the outset of the war—though many did not have the opportunity to vote, as they were detained by the federal government because of suspected Confederate sympathies.
Between 1861 and 1865, the Civil War impacted nearly every Maryland resident. Some families faced financial ruin after troops ravaged their land. Thousands of fathers, sons and brothers became casualties of war. For enslaved Marylanders, the conflict ultimately brought about freedom as the new state constitution of November 1864 abolished the practice.
Marylanders witnessed three major military movements during the Civil War: the Maryland (also known as Antietam) Campaign in the fall of 1862, the Gettysburg Campaign in the summer of 1863, and the march to Washington led by Jubal Early in the summer of 1864. Geocachers can visit significant sites from each of these three operations on the Heart of the Civil War GeoTrail.
The mission of the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area is to promote the stewardship of our historic, cultural, and natural Civil War resources; encourage superior visitor experiences; and stimulate tourism, economic prosperity, and educational development, thereby improving the quality of life in our community for the benefit of both residents and visitors.
The Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area Geotrail launched October 1st, 2016 with 15 geocaches within Maryland's Carroll, Frederick, and Washington Counties. A trackable geocoin will be awarded to the first 200 geocachers, (while supplies last), who find the locations of at least 13 HCWHA caches. To be eligible for the coin, geocachers must download a passport from the Heart of the Civil War website, and record the code word from at least 13 HCWHA geocaches. Geocachers may have their passports validated in person at the Newcomer House at Antietam National Battlefield or at the Visitor Centers in Westminster, Frederick, or Hagerstown. Please refer to the passport for Visitor Center hours and complete validation instructions.
Please note following change. A free prize will still be given to a geocacher who goes to at least 13 HCWHA geocaches and records the code in each of the geocaches on their passport. In addition, geocachers may purchase a trackable Geocoin for $10 at one of the following locations: Frederick Visitor Center, Hagerstown-Washington County Visitor Welcome Center, or Antietam Museum Store. Each of these locations will verify passports by mail and send a coin for a modest handling fee. Call for more information.
Participating in the HCWHA geotrail is fun and we hope that many people join in. However, it is not a requirement for logging your find on this cache once you find the container.
The Newcomer House, now the Exhibit and Visitor Center for the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, represents the impact that the Civil War had on civilians. The three-story wooden structure sits on the eastern edge of Antietam National Battlefield, along the Shepherdstown Pike (Route 34) not far from the Antietam Creek.
An entrepreneur of German extraction named Christian Orndorff received a land patent for an estate in this area in 1740s. Orndorff then set about building a home for his family as well as a barn and mill complex along the Antietam Creek. This self-sufficient industrial operation turned quite a profit milling flour and lumber. The wooden structure standing today was built for Orndorff’s son in the 1780s. Foundations of the Orndorffs’ first home can be seen today in the hillside just east of the Newcomer House.
During the early fall of 1862, Joshua Newcomer owned and operated the farm just outside the town of Sharpsburg. He received word from passing troops that a major military conflict was bound to ensue. The Newcomer family took heed of this intelligence and left the house behind. The bloodiest day in American history took place in their backyard on September 17, 1862: the Battle of Antietam. The Federal army used many buildings at the Newcomer complex, including the mill, the house and the barn, as a place to care for the wounded.
The Newcomers returned to find that much of their property had been destroyed. Weary and hungry men from both armies had availed themselves of the Newcomers’ crops, fence rails, and foodstuffs stored for the winter—nearly everything that was not secured to the ground had been taken. Joshua Newcomer sought retribution from the U.S. government in the months that followed. Because he could not prove who had caused the destruction, he received only about $200 of the estimated $3,000 in damages. The convergence of troops here at Antietam left the family bankrupt and the house went up for auction less than a year after the battle.
After decades of private ownership, the National Park Service acquired the Newcomer House in 2005. It has been restored to its 1862 appearance following the Secretary of Interior’s standards for historic preservation, and has been open to the public since 2010 under a cooperative agreement between NPS, the Hagerstown/Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area.
The Newcomer House is open from 11:00AM-5:00PM, daily from June through September, weekends in April, May, October, and November, and the first Saturday in December for the Antietam Illumination. The grounds are open to walk around from sunrise to sunset.
Thanks to the following members of the Maryland Geocaching Society in placing the hides for this Geotrail: deepdish23, GeoAPPs, lpyankeefan, Phos4s, and ZombieHNTR.