Historic
Preservation in Hagerstown
Hagerstown is known as the Hub City because
it has always been an important crossroads community in Western Maryland.
The town was founded by Jonathan Hager in 1762 at the intersection of two
colonial roads in the Cumberland Valley. Hagerstown came to serve the surrounding
rich agricultural community as a milling, trading and governmental center.
The Mason-Dixon line was established approximately six miles north of the
City and the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal are located
six miles to the south. During the Civil War, Union and Confederate troops
occupied Hagerstown repeatedly as they traveled through the region en route
to Pennsylvania and Virginia. Extensive rail development in the late nineteenth
century accelerated the Industrial Revolution in Hagerstown and the City
boomed with prosperity and growth from 1880 to 1930.
Having retained much of the buildings and urban form achieved by 1930, Hagerstown
today is a window to turn-of-the-century America. Instead of reading about
the impact of the Industrial Revolution on small town America, people can
visit Hagerstown and walk the streets and touch the buildings where turn-of-the-century
Hagerstonians worked, shopped, played and lived. At the core of the City
is a compact business and government center of four- to eight-story Victorian
and Beaux Arts buildings. Surrounding the downtown are the urban rowhouse
and genteel mansion house neighborhoods developed for Hagerstown's boom
era workers, industrial magnates and business managers. Scattered throughout
are the two-story, pre-Civil War era houses of our early German settlers.
Hagerstown's rail heritage is evident in the still active rail lines which
nearly encircle the central city. In recognition of this important urban
architectural heritage, six National Register historic districts have been
designated in Hagerstown.
The National Register of Historic Places
The goal of the Historic Preservation movement in America is to protect
cherished cultural treasures that have meaning for people and communities
as links with the past which give the community identity and stability.
To assist this movement, the federal government created the National Register
of Historic Places in 1966. The purpose of the National Register is to
identify buildings, structures, objects and places which are worthy of
recognition and preservation because of their significance to American
history and culture. The National Register is administered by the National
Park Service. Listing on the National Register is a nationally recognized
honor making property owners eligible for historic preservation federal
tax credits and loans. Buildings, structures, objects and places are eligible
for listing on the National Register if they are associated with an important
event or historic theme; if they are linked with an important person in
history; if they are an important representative of an architectural style,
type of construction, or work of a master craftsman; or if they possess
important archaeological resources. In order to be listed on the National
Register the building, structure, object or place must also still be in
good enough condition to allow people to understand those features and
qualities which make the historic resource important. To learn more about
the National Register of Historic Places, go to the web site of the Keeper
of the National Register at the National Park Service.
Many of Hagerstown's historic buildings and neighborhoods have been recognized
for their historical and architectural significance by the federal government
and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Hagerstown
has seven individual buildings or structures listed on the National Register:
Jonathan Hager's House in City Park, the Western Maryland Railway Station
at 50 N. Burhans Boulevard, Western Maryland Railway Steam Locomotive
#202 in City Park, the Elliot Bester House at 205 S. Potomac Street,
the Washington County Courthouse at 95 W. Washington Street, and the
Armory at 328 N. Potomac Street. Hagerstown has six National Register
historic districts: the City Center Commercial Core, the South Prospect
Street residential district, the Potomac-Broadway commercial and residential
district, the Oak Hill residential district, the City Park residential
district, and the Hagerstown district (the 1762 boundaries of the City
with some additions). Four of the National Register districts have been
designated by the City of Hagerstown as local historic districts.
Hagerstown's Preservation Program
The Mayor and City Council of Hagerstown adopted a preservation ordinance
in 1987 which set up the framework for Hagerstown's preservation program.
As established in the ordinance, the purpose of Hagerstown's preservation
program is to protect, preserve, and encourage the re-use of those
sites, structures and districts which reflect elements of archaeological,
political, cultural, social, economic or architectural history, and
to preserve and enhance the quality of life and to safeguard the historical
and cultural heritage of Hagerstown. The ordinance created the Hagerstown
Historic District Commission and designated three historic
districts:
City Center, South
Prospect Street and Oak Hill.
The
Potomac- Broadway district
was added in 1992. The City has designated the following properties
as landmarks:
| Graystone Manor |
640 Securities Boulevard |
| Middlekauf House |
837 Concord Street |
| Leonard Middlekauf House |
1009-1011 Pennsylvania Ave. |
| F. Stever House |
414 West Washington St. |
| Verdant Mead |
19329 Leitersburg Pike |
| Ridenour's Folly |
17514 W. Washington St. |
Landmarks are essentially one-property historic districts.
In order to implement the goals of the preservation program, the Historic
District Commission is charged with the duty of reviewing all work that
affect the exterior appearance of buildings or properties in a historic
district or on a landmark property. Routine landscaping and repainting
previously painted surfaces do not require review.
Property owners or
tenants proposing such work must submit an application
for a Certificate of Appropriateness
to the Historic Commission. A building permit will not be issued
until the Certificate of Appropriateness has been granted. To learn
more about the effects of designation of
local historic districts or landmarks, contact the Planning
Office at (301) 739-8577, ext. 138, or E-Mail planning@hagerstownmd.org
Various interpretive materials have been created and events organized
to help citizens and visitors celebrate Hagerstown's
heritage.
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