HCWHA US 250th GeoTour
Pine Grove Chapel
Party like it’s 1776 with the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area’s 250th GeoTour! Designed for beginner and veteran geocachers, participants will travel through time, solving puzzles and following clues to learn more about mid-Maryland’s rich history. In honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States, our 250th GeoTour will take you throughout Carroll, Frederick, and Washington Counties to sites of historical significance, including battlefields, houses of worship, museums, parks, and more!
Our tour is an opportunity to learn more about the people, places, and events that laid the foundation for our country. While supplies last, those who collect 15 or more will earn this Geotour’s limited edition geocoin commemorating the 250th. Happy hunting!
Courtesy of Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area
Built in 1846, Ridge Presbyterian Church, later renamed Pine Grove Chapel, held religious services before discontinuing (year unknown), and then held funeral services until 1908. Today, Pine Grove Chapel is an active non-denominational chapel.
During the Civil War, the 14th New Jersey Union soldiers used the church as their barracks, guarding the National Road and the B&O Railroad while sleeping on the church pews at night. According to a newspaper account at the time, Captain Jacob J. Janeway caught a soldier buying liquor from a local enslaved woman named Abaigail. He had both offenders wear empty liquor barrels on their heads and march around camp to warn other soldiers against drinking. The punishment was typical of the time, as drunkenness was a serious threat to military order throughout the Civil War.
Those selling alcohol to soldiers were punished with fines, forced closures, jailtime, or public humiliation. Despite this, alcohol was ubiquitous. Throughout the war, nearly 8,000 Union soldiers were hospitalized or relieved of duty for drunkenness. Stories of accidental shootings, property damage, and violent acts as a result of inebriation would litter American newspapers.
Alcohol as an aid during amputations is a myth –virtually all amputations were performed under anesthesia– but whiskey was used medicinally by Civil War doctors in other ways, including as a stimulant. Alcohol was also certainly used by soldiers as a coping mechanism and the carnage of Civil War battlefields haunted many during and after the war. Regarding alcoholism, the deputy governor for the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers pondered in 1878, “I can not help asking, how much are they to blame?” A question many continue to ask about addiction today.
“About Us/History.” Pine Grove Chapel and Cemetery. https://pinegrovemd.cemsites.com/about/.
“Arrested Again.” The Frederick Examiner. Frederick, Maryland, 20 May 1863: 2. https://www.crossroadsofwar.org/research/newspapers?id=2719.
“Deserved Punishment.” The Frederick Examiner. Frederick, Maryland, 21 December 1864: 2D. https://www.crossroadsofwar.org/research/newspapers?id=5653.
Fisher, Bernard. “Mount Airy - Under the Barrels - Gettysburg Campaign.” Historical Marker Database. (2024). https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=201590.
Lewy, Jonathan. “The Army Disease: Drug Addiction and the Civil War.” War in History 21, no. 1 (2014): 102–19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26098368.
Mahr, Michael. “Half the Time Unfit for Duty”: Alcoholism in the Civil War.” National Museum of Civil War Medicine. (Sept. 2021). https://www.civilwarmed.org/alcoholism/.
“Pine Grove Cemetery.” Graveyard Rabbit of Maryland: 2010. https://graveyardrabbitofmd.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/pine-grove-cemetery/.
“Served Him Right.” The Adams Sentinel. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 13 October 1863: 2D. https://www.crossroadsofwar.org/research/newspapers?id=6759.
“Town History.” Town of Mount Airy, Maryland. https://www.mountairymd.gov/233/Town-History.
This geocache has been approved by the Town of Mount Airy and Pine Grove Chapel. Please only search for the geocache during daylight hours.
Thanks to the following members of the Maryland Geocaching Society in placing the hides for this GeoTour: deepdish23, hunterKat, GR8Caches, Snurt, Phos4s, JediTrashPanda and AL's Guide.