The City of Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, was laid out in 1762 by a German settler named Jonathan Hager. Originally named Elizabeth-Town, after Hager's wife, it was more often referred to as Hagers-Town and the name was eventually changed to today's Hagerstown.

The Hagerstown Police Department shoulder patch features this founding date along with "Little Heiskell", a longtime symbol of Hagerstown.

"Little Heiskell," was fashioned out of wrought iron in 1769 by a tinsmith named Heiskell...seven years before the Declaration of Independence. The German "soldier" rotated as a weathervane atop the first Court House in the middle of Public Square, as well as the City Hall that was completed in 1824 at the corner of Franklin and Potomac Streets.

During the Civil War, a Confederate sharpshooter used "Little Heiskell" as a target and as a result a bullet hole can be seen above the arm and gun.

"Little Heiskell" is now carefully preserved and displayed in the Hager House Museum as one of the oldest mementos of our city. An exact replica now occupies his place over the Clock Tower on the latest City Hall, dedicated on March 31, 1940.