Frederick, Maryland Totally Explained

Frederick is the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. As of the 2006 census estimates, the city has a total population of 58,882 (External Link), making it the third-largest city in Maryland. Frederick is home to Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), which primarily accommodates general aviation traffic, and to the U.S. Army's Fort Detrick, the largest employer in the county. Frederick is also home to BP Solar, which is the second largest employer in the county and one of the largest solar panel factories in the country. Frederick's newspaper of record is The Frederick News-Post.

Geography

Frederick is located in Frederick County in the western part of the State of Maryland. The city has served as a major crossroads since colonial times. Today it's located at the junction of Interstate 70, Interstate 270, US Route 340, US Highway 40 and U.S. Route 15. In relation to nearby cities, Frederick lies forty-three miles northwest of Washington, DC, forty-five miles west of Baltimore, Maryland, twenty-five miles southeast of Hagerstown, Maryland, and seventy-five miles southwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The city's coordinates 39°25'35" North, 77°25'13" West (39.426294, -77.420403).
According to the 2004 report of United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 52.9 km² (20.4 mi²). The city's area is predominantly land, with the only water being the Monocacy River, which runs to the east of the city, Carroll Creek (which runs through the city and causes periodic floods, such as that during the summer of 1972), and Culler Lake, a man-made small body in the downtown area.

History

“Frederick Town” was laid out by Daniel Dulaney (a land speculator) in 1745, and settled by a German immigrant party led by a young German Reformed schoolmaster from the Rhineland Palatinate named Johann Thomas Schley (d. 1790), who came to the Maryland colony with his wife, Maria Winz. They built the first house of the new town which into the 20th century stood at the corner of Middle Alley and East Patrick Street. The settlement was founded upon a tract of land granted by Daniel Dulaney on the banks of Carroll Creek. Within three years the settlement had become the county seat of Frederick County. It is uncertain which Frederick the town was named for, but the likeliest candidates are Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, and Frederick II "The Great" of Prussia. Most sources agree it was named for Frederick Calvert.
   Schley's first task as leader of the settlement party was the foundation of a German Reformed Church, which also served immediately as a public school, in keeping with the German Reformed tradition of sponsoring universal public education. Many of the Pennsylvania Dutch settled in Frederick as they migrated westward in the late 18th Century. Frederick was a stop along the German migration route that led down through the "Great Valley" (Shenandoah Valley, etc.) all the way to the western Piedmont in North Carolina.
   The city served as a major crossroads from colonial times. British General Braddock marched west through Frederick on the way to the fateful ambush near Fort Pitt. To control this crossroads, the British garrisoned a Hessian regiment in the town during the war (the barracks still stand). Afterwards, with no way to return to their homeland, these Germans stayed on and married into the families of the town, strengthening its German identity. And when President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the building of the National Road from Baltimore to St. Louis, the "National Pike" ran through Frederick along Patrick Street.
   By the first third of the 19th century, Frederick had become one of the leading mining counties of the United States, producing gold, copper, limestone, marble, iron and other minerals. As early as the American Revolution, Catoctin Furnace near Thurmont had been the site of significant iron production.
   When the first wave of Irish refugees from the potato famine settled in the city in 1846, one of the leading members of the Schley family married into the Wilson family from Ireland. Consequently, many of the Schleys converted to Catholicism and residents of Frederick began to speak English for the first time in the town's history--up until then, the language had been German. Frederick was known during the nineteenth century for its religious pluralism, with one of its main thoroughfares, Church Street, hosting half-a-dozen major churches. The main Catholic Church, St. John's, was located one block north of Church Street on East Second Street. Together, these churches dominated the town, set against the backdrop of the first ridge of the Appalachians, Catoctin Mountain. The abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier immortalized this view of Frederick in his poem to Barbara Fritchie: "The clustered spires of Frederick stand--greenwalled in the hills of Maryland."
   Frederick's status as a major crossroads put the town at the center of the Maryland campaigns of the Civil War, during which both Union and Confederate troops marched through the town. General Stonewall Jackson led his light infantry division through Frederick on his way to the battles of Crampton's, Fox's and Turner's Gaps and Antietam in September of 1862, leading to an incident with Pennsylvania Dutch resident Barbara Fritchie commemorated in the poem of the same name by John Greenleaf Whittier. Major General Jesse Reno's IX Corps followed Jackson's men through the city a few days later on the way to the Battle of South Mountain.
   The Schleys were activists for the American Revolution and had been a military family in Germany, with one ancestor holding high rank at the Battle of Parma in 1714. One of Johann Thomas Schley's sons, George Jacob, served in the Maryland line of the Continental Army. Although Frederick was culturally Southern, and many of the Schleys had been slaveholders, the family also possessed a deep streak of military nationalism, probably from its German heritage. Thus, during the Civil War, Major Henry Schley, brother of Colonel Edward Schley (d. 1857), at the age of 72 fought for the Union as the aide de camp to General Lew Wallace, one of Grant's key adjutants at the Battle of Shiloh (1862), along with Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Don Carlos Buell. General Wallace also fought Confederate General Jubal Early outside of Frederick at the Battle of the Monocacy in 1864 (below). Major Henry Schley's son, Dr. Fairfax Schley, became a prominent civic leader as well. Admiral Winfield Scott Schley served in the United States Navy through the Spanish American War, where he led the American fleet to victory over the Spanish at Santiago Bay in 1898. Gilmer Schley served as Mayor from 1919-1922 and the Schleys remained one of the town's leading families into the late twentieth century. Nathaniel Wilson Schley, son of Gilmer Schley, became a prominent banker at the Farmers and Mechanics Citizens' National Bank. His wife, Mary Margaret Schley, was a Daughter of the American Revolution, a perennial leader of the Garden Society and a life member of the Frederick County Agricultural Society (FCAS), sponsor and organizer of the annual Great Frederick Fair, one of the two largest agricultural fairs in the State (with the annual State Fair at Timonium, Maryland). Their son, Donald Gilmer Schley, along with John T. Best, Gordon Smith, Frank Stauffer, Emmons C. Sanner and other FCAS board members worked in the late 1960s to shift the nightly entertainment at the then declining Fair from a New York show and Borscht-belt comedian venue to a country western venue. At first they brought stars such as Barbara and Louise Mandrell, and over the later years Reba McIntyre, Lee Greenwood and many others to the annual September event, making the Fair the site of a major annual country-western festival. Schley Avenue commemorates the family's role in the city's heritage.
   Frederick also had Jewish residents as early as the 1740s, when pioneers Henry Lazarus and Levy Cohan settled there as merchants. An organized Jewish community, comprised mainly of German Jewish immigrants, took shape in the mid-19th Century and the Frederick Hebrew Congregation was organized in 1858. Later the congregation lapsed, but was reorganized in 1919 as a cooperative effort between the older settlers and more recently arrived Eastern European Jews under the name Beth Sholom.
   In 1905, Rev. E.B. Hatcher started the First Baptist Church of Frederick, MD.
   In 1921, the first high school for African-Americans was founded at 170 West All Saints Street. Later it moved to 250 Madison Street, where it eventually became South Frederick Elementary. (The building still stands and presently houses the Lincoln Elementary School.)

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 52,767 people, 20,891 households, and 12,785 families residing in the city. The population density is 997.7/km² (2,584.4/mi²). There are 22,106 housing units at an average density of 418.0/km² (1,082.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 57.04% White, 34.74% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 3.15% Asian American, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.26% from other races, and 2.46% from two or more races. 4.80% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
   There are 20,891 households, out of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% are married couples living together, 12.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% are non-families. 30.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.42 and the average family size was 3.05.
   In the city, the population is spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.4 males.
   The median income for a household in the city is $47,700, and the median income for a family is $56,778. Males have a median income of $38,399 versus $27,732 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,053. 9.4% of the population and 4.8% of families are below the poverty line. 14.3% of those under the age of 18 and 6.8% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Government

Mayor or City Executive

The current Mayor of Frederick is William J. Holtzinger. Previous Mayors include:

Representative body

Frederick has a Board of Aldermen of six members (one of whom is the Mayor) which serves as its legislative body. Elections are held every 4 years. The current board was elected November 1, 2005, and consists of Marcia Hall, David Koontz, Alan Imhoff, C. Paul Smith, and Donna Kuzemchak Ramsburg.

Arts

Frederick has a bridge covered with a mural called the "Community Bridge

." The artist, William Cochran, has been acclaimed for the realism of the painting. Thousands of people sent ideas representing community that appear throughout the stonework of the bridge. One of the most interesting parts of the mural is an angel that appears in perspective if you look at it from the proper angle (the proper angle being the middle window of the second floor of the Delaplaine Visual Arts Center). To the people of Frederick, it's called "the mural," "painted bridge," or more commonly known to the people as the "mural bridge."
The Frederick Arts Council

is the designated arts organization for Frederick County. The organization is charged with promoting, supporting, and advocating the arts, a thriving community in the city. There are over ten art galleries in downtown Frederick, and three theaters are located within 50 feet of each other (Cultural Arts Center, Weinberg Center for the Arts, and the MET). Frederick is the home of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre and the Maryland Shakespeare Festival.
In August 2007, the streets of Frederick will be adorned with 30 life-size fiberglass keys as part of a major public art project entitled "The Keys to Frederick

."
Frederick also has its own community orchestra, The Frederick Symphony Orchestra

, that performs five concerts per year consisting of classical masterpieces. They offer musical enrichment programs such as Frederick Regional Youth Orchestra, Frederick Children's Chorus, and the Frederick Regional Symphonic Band.
   Frederick is home to Frederick School of Classical Ballet, the official school for Maryland Regional Ballet. Approximately 30 dance studios are located around Frederick. Each year, these studios have an opportunity to perform at the annual DanceFest event.
   Frederick contains both Hood College and Frederick Community College.
   A weekly carillon recital is played on the Joseph Dill Baker Carillon each Sunday at noon for half an hour. The carillon can be heard from anywhere in Baker Park, or the City Carillonneur can be viewed playing in the tower, which is open each week at that time.
   The city is well-known for the Clustered Spires skyline of its historic downtown buildings. These spires are depicted on the city's seal and many other city-affiliated logos and insignia.
   Frederick is a sister city to two German cities, Schifferstadt and Mörzheim.
   The city is home to WFRE and WAFY radio stations.

Sports

Frederick Keys, a "high-A" minor league baseball affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Keys are named after Francis Scott Key, who was a resident of Frederick, and play in Harry Grove Stadium.

"Frederick Flying Dogs

," an adult amateur baseball team in the "Mid-Maryland Semi-Pro Baseball League

." The Flying Dogs are named after their primary sponsor the Flying Dog Brewery, a craft brewer with locations in Denver, CO and Frederick, MD.

Schools

Frederick County Public Schools FCPS operates area public schools.
   Public Elementary Schools: Ballenger Creek Elementary, Brunswick Elementary, Carroll Manor Elementary, Centerville Elementary, Deer Crossing Elementary, Emmitsburg Elementary, Glade Elementary, Green Valley Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary, Kemptown Elementary, Lewistown Elementary, Liberty Elementary, Lincoln Elementary (formerly South Frederick Elementary), Middletown Elementary, Middletown Primary, Monocacy Elementary, Myersville Elementary, New Market Elementary, New Midway Elementary, Woodsboro Elementary, North Frederick Elementary, Oakdale Elementary, Orchard Grove Elementary, Parkway Elementary, Sabillasville Elementary, Spring Ridge Elementary, Thurmont Elementary, Thurmont Primary, Tuscarora Elementary, Twin Ridge Elementary, Urbana Elementary, Valley Elementary, Walkersville Elementary, Waverley Elementary, Whittier Elementary, Wolfsville Elementary, Yellow Springs Elementary and Monocacy Valley Montessori, Maryland's first public Charter School.
   Public Middle Schools: Ballenger Creek Middle, Brunswick Middle, Crestwood Middle, Governor Thomas Johnson Middle, Middletown Middle, Monocacy Middle, New Market Middle, Thurmont Middle, Oakdale Middle, Urbana Middle, Walkersville Middle, West Frederick Middle, and Windsor Knolls Middle.
   Public High Schools: Brunswick High, Catoctin High, Flexible Evening High, Frederick High, Governor Thomas Johnson High, Linganore High, Middletown High, Tuscarora High School, Urbana High School, and Walkersville High.
   Private High Schools: Saint John's Catholic Prep (at Prospect Hall)
   Other Public Schools: Adult Education, Career and Technology Center, Heather Ridge School, Outdoor School, Rock Creek School, and The Earth and Space Science Laboratory.
   Post-secondary Schools (not affiliated with FCPS): Frederick Community College and Hood College.

Sites of Historical Interest

Frederick, Maryland is rich in colonial and Civil War history, and is home to both major defense and cultural institutions. The Museum of Civil War Medicine is located here, as is the U.S. Army facility of Fort Detrick. Hood College and the Maryland School for the Deaf are also established here. Frederick also sports a minor-league baseball team, the Frederick Keys. Frederick is also home of several liberal organizations including the Peace Resource Center of Frederick County, an installation of Women in Black, and the Frederick Progressive Action Coalition or FredPac.
   Frederick was the site of a Civil War speech given by President Abraham Lincoln, which took place at what was then a train depot at the current intersection of South and Market Streets. A plaque commemorates the speech.
   Several historic Civil War battlefields are located near Frederick. Due West along Alternate US 40, and west of Burkittsville, Maryland, lie the sites of the three episodes in the Battle of South Mountain: the battles of Crampton's (September 14, 1862), Fox's, and Turner's Gaps, where Confederate troops under Jackson and Walker unsuccessfully attempted to halt the Federal army's advance into the Cumberland Valley. The war correspondents' memorial can be found at Gathland State Park at Crampton's Gap, just west of Burkittsville. The memorial to the slain union General Jesse Reno lies on the south side of Alternate US 40, west of Middletown, just below the summitt of Fox's Gap. 21 miles to the southwest lies historic Harper's Ferry, which dominates the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. Here stood a key Federal arsenal, and in 1859, Kansas Abolitionist John Brown seized these works, only to be surrounded and captured by a Federal force under Robert E. Lee. Early on September 17, 1862, Confederate General A. P. Hill raided the arsenal at Harper's Ferry to re-equip his own division. When a rider arrived at 1 pm that afternoon informing Hill of Lee's desperate position, Hill ordered his 6000 men to form ranks and march at double-time to Lee's aid at Antietam (Sharpsburg). His division covered the 17 miles between Harper's Ferry and the battlefield in just three hours, arriving "in the nick of time" to turn back Burnside's men, who were just forcing the bridge across Antietam Creek.
   Collectors still find Civil War artifacts in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, especially on Maryland Heights above the town on the Maryland side of the Potomac. The Monocacy Battlefield lies just outside the city limits, while Antietam and Gettsyburg lie approximately thirty-five miles to the west and north, respectively.
   Another notable Civil War location is the former home of Barbara Fritchie, the woman who (according to legend) waved the Stars and Stripes in defiance of Confederate commander Stonewall Jackson and his troops as they marched through downtown Frederick. These events are the subject of an 1864 poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. Barbara Fritchie is buried in Frederick's Mt. Olivet cemetery next to Governor Thomas Johnson and Francis Scott Key.
   About 23 miles south of Frederick lies historic Waterford, in Loudon County, Virginia, a well-preserved colonial town and site of a major annual colonial fair.
   Other notable Fredericktonians include former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, John Hanson, the first President of the United States under the Articles of Confederation; and Peter Wilson Hancock VII, political-rights activist and philosopher. Frederick is also the resting place of Francis Scott Key, the author of the National Anthem of the United States, "The Star-Spangled Banner." Also resting there, in the All Saints' Parish Cemetery is Thomas Sim Lee (1745–1819), who served two terms as Governor of Maryland. Lee was influential in the enactment of Statehood for Maryland and played an important role in completing the formation of the union in 1781.
   The oldest house in the City of Frederick is Schifferstadt, built in 1756 by German settler Joseph Brunner. It is now the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum.

Transportation

From 1896 to 1961, Frederick was served by the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway, an interurban trolley service that was among the last surviving systems of its kind in the United States.
Currently, the city is served by MARC commuter rail service, which operates several trains daily to Washington, D.C., Express bus route 991, which operates to the Shady Grove Metrorail Station, and a series of buses operated by TransIT services of Frederick, Maryland

Notable Residents and Natives

Chuck Foreman, NFL Running Back, 1973 NFL Rookie of the Year Award, elected to 5 Pro Bowls (1973-1977), Minnesota Vikings (1973-1979), New England Patriots 1980. Foreman was a native of Frederick and was a football, basketball and track standout at Frederick High School. He starred in college at the University of Miami and was the Minnesota Vikings' 1st-round draft pick in 1973.

Barbara Fritchie, American Patriot during Civil War (1766-1862), who defied Stonewall Jackson's Confederates by waving a union flag from her window as they marched through Frederick on their way to the eventual battles at South Mountain and Sharpsburg in September, 1862. Abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier immortalized her actions in his 1864 poem, Barbara Frietchie.

Lester Bowie, jazz trumptet and improviser, (1941-1999) was born in the historically-black hamlet of Bartonsville. He was a founder of the influential AACM in Chicago and a member of the long-playing free jazz group, Art Ensemble of Chicago. The Bowie family has deep roots in the Linganore-Bartonsville, Maryland area of Frederick County. He is buried in Bartonsville.

Shawn Hatosy, (December 29,1975) a professional actor who has appeared in such films as, The Faculty, John Q, and Alpha Dog

Thomas Johnson (1732–1819) was a distinguished American jurist and political figure of the revolutionary and post-revolutionary period. He was the first elected Governor of Maryland, a delegate to the Continental Congress and an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Although born in Calvert County, Maryland, in his later years he lived with his daughter Ann and her husband at Rose Hill Manor, in Frederick. Governor Thomas Johnson High School, located on the property, bears his name.

Francis Scott Key, lawyer, author of Star Spangled Banner, (1779-1843)

Terence Morris, (January 11, 1979) professional basketball player, played for NBA teams including the Houston Rockets and the Orlando Magic. Attended Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, class of 1997

John Nelson, U.S. Attorney General, (1843-1845), U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 4th District, (1821-1823), born in Frederick in 1791.

Winfield Scott Schley (9 October 1839 - 2 October 1911), was born in Richfields, near Frederick. He rose to the rank of admiral of the United States Navy and served from the Civil War through the Spanish-American War, leading the flying squadron to victory over the Spanish Admiral Cervera's fleet at the Battle of Santiago Bay, Cuba, on 3 July 1898, a feat which elevated him to the status of national hero.

Roger Brooke Taney, Judge, (1777-1864) Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1836-1864), who rendered the notorious Dred Scott Decision in 1857, that concluded that people of African descent, whether or not they were slaves, could never be citizens of the United States, and that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories.

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