MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

PARKS & RECREATION

NATIONAL PARKS IN MARYLAND

• Historic Trails
• Maryland National Parks (National Park Service)

• Allegany County
• Baltimore City
• Baltimore County
• Charles County
• Dorchester County
• Frederick County
• Montgomery County
• Prince George's County
• Washington County
• Worcester County

Black-headed Gulls, Assateague Island National Park Seashore (Worcester County), May 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

• Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal National Historical Park
  Cumberland Visitor Center, Western Maryland Railway Station, 13 Canal St., Room 100, Cumberland, MD 21502
  (301) 739-4200
  web: www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/cumberlandvisitorcenter.htm

  The C&O Canal National Historic Park stretches across four counties all the way west to Cumberland. The Park offers living history demonstrations, hiking, fishing, camping, horse paths, as well as seasonal activities. In Allegany County, the Park includes the C&O Canal Museum, the Cumberland Visitor Center, and the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, which runs between Cumberland and Frostburg.

Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine
2400 East Fort Ave., Baltimore, MD 21230 - 5393
(410) 962-4290, ext. 250; fax: (410) 962-2500
web: www.nps.gov/fomc/index.htm

Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland, May 2000. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

After burning the White House, the Capitol, and other government buildings in Washington, DC, the British force on August 24, 1814 advanced towards Baltimore City. To the British, Baltimore was a "nest of pirates," due to the number of privateers (ships authorized by the government to attack enemy vessels during war) that launched from its waters. In 1813, the British imposed a blockade on the City, and on September 12, 1814, defeated the Maryland Militia at the Battle of North Point. The next day, Vice-Adm. Sir Alexander Cochrane and the British fleet of 19 ships began a 27-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry and its 1,000 defenders commanded by Maj. George Armistead. On September 14, the American flag was raised over the Fort. Upon seeing it, Francis Scott Key wrote "The Defence of Fort McHenry," a poem later known as "The Star-Spangled Banner," our National Anthem.

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of our National Anthem, there was a free festival, the Star-Spangled Spectacular, at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, September 10-16, 2014. Naval vessels and tall ships from around the world were in port, and the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels performed in a two-day air show. There were two concerts and a fireworks display over Fort McHenry and the Inner Harbor.

Francis Scott Key monument, by Antonin Mercie (1911), Eutaw Place, Baltimore, Maryland, October 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

Hampton National Historic Site
535 Hampton Lane, Towson, MD 21286
(410) 823-1309; fax: (410) 823-8394
web: http://www.nps.gov/hamp/index.htm

Hampton National Historic Site, Towson, Maryland, December 1999. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

Hampton Mansion was built in the Georgian style for the Ridgely family between 1783 and 1790. Upon completion, it was the largest private home in the United States. The estate included extensive gardens, farmlands, a racetrack, an ironworks, gristmills, quarries, orchards, and an orangery. At its peak in the 1820s, it encompassed 25,000 acres. To keep the estate's industries going, the Ridgelys employed many workers throughout the years, including over 500 slaves, hired laborers, British indentured servants, and prisoners of war. In 1815, the second master of the house, Charles Carnan Ridgely, was elected as the 15th governor of Maryland. The Ridgelys entertained prominent guests in their home, including Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of Maryland's signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat who served as a general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. After the Civil War, the estate went into decline and, in 1948, the Ridgely family left Hampton.

Piscataway Park
c/o Fort Washington Park, 13551 Fort Washington Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744
(301) 763-4600
web: www.nps.gov/pisc/index.htm

Red Devon Cattle, National Colonial Farm Museum, Accokeek, Maryland, May 2011. Photo by Diane F. Evartt

Established in 1957, Piscataway Park contains trails through wetlands and woods, as well as a fishing pier. The Park also includes National Colonial Farm, Accokeek, Maryland, a living history museum of life on an 18th-Century farm.
• Thomas Stone National Historic Site
  6655 Rose Hill Road, Port Tobacco, MD 20677
  (804) 224-1732, ext. 227
  web: www.nps.gov/thst/index.htm
  mailing address: c/o George Washington Birthplace National Monument, 1732 Popes Creek Road, Colonial Beach, VA 22443

  Thomas Stone was a lawyer and plantation owner from Maryland who signed the Declaration of Independence. The estate remained in the Stone family from the 1770s to 1936. The National Park Service later purchased the property and restored the house, which had been damaged by fire. Today, the park contains Stone's home, Haberdeventure (or Habre de Venture), as well as outbuildings and the family cemetery.

DORCHESTER COUNTY

• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park
  National Park Service, 4068 Golden Hill Road, Church Creek, MD 21622
  (410) 221-2290
  web: www.nps.gov/hatu/index.htm

  Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Dorchester County, but later escaped to Philadelphia. To lead other slaves, including family members, to freedom in the North, she returned multiple times to Maryland's Eastern Shore. The Park includes a Visitor Center and trails through the surrounding area.

Catoctin Mountain Park
6602 Foxville Road, Thurmont, MD 21788 - 1598
(301) 663-9388, (301) 663-9330; fax: (301) 271-2764
web: www.nps.gov/cato/index.htm

Created under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal”, Catoctin Mountain Park has campsites, and trails for scenic hiking or horse back riding. The Park borders Cunningham Falls State Park, and offers individual and group cabins for rent.

Hikers in Catoctin Mountain National Park near Thurmont, Maryland, April 2004. Photo by Elizabeth W. Newell.

• Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal National Historic Park
  Brunswick Visitors Center, 40 West Potomac St., Brunswick, MD 21716
  (301) 834-7100
  web: www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/brunswickvisitorcenter.htm
  mailing address: Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal National Historical Park
  142 West Potomac St., Williamsport, MD 21795

  In Frederick County, the C&O Canal National Historic Park includes the Monocacy Aqueduct, and the Catoctin Creek Aqueduct. The Frederick section of the Canal runs through Brunswick, and connects with the MARC Train for easy access to the Greater Washington, DC, area.

• Monocacy National Battlefield
  5201 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD 21704
  (301) 662-3515; fax: (301) 668-7437
  web: www.nps.gov/mono/index.htm
  mailing address: 4632 Araby Church Road, Frederick, MD 21704 - 7705

Worthington Farm, Monocacy National Battlefield, Frederick (Frederick County), Maryland, May 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

• Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal National Historical Park
  Great Falls Tavern Visitors Center, 11710 MacArthur Blvd., Potomac, MD 20854
  (301) 767-3714
  web: www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/greatfallstavernvisitorcenter.htm

  The portion of C&O Canal National Historic Park that is in Montgomery County offers standard amenities found elsewhere along the Canal, as well as two sites from which to ride canal boats: Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center, and the Georgetown Visitor Center. The Canal runs just south of Glen Echo Park, and the Clara Barton National Historic Site.

• Glen Echo Park
  7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD 20812
  (301) 320-1400
  web: www.nps.gov/glec/index.htm

  Opened in 1891, Glen Echo Park offers art galleries, a theatre, arcade, and stables. The Park also provides classes and educational lectures. Still open to the public are the Dentzel Carousel (started in 1921), and the Spanish Ballroom (opened in 1933). On the grounds is the Clara Barton National Historic Site. The National Park Service began management of the Park in 1970, and provides tours of the grounds.

  mailing address: George Washington Memorial Parkway, c/o Turkey Run Park McLean, VA 22101

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

• Fort Foote National Park
  8901 Fort Foote Road, Oxon Hill, MD 20745
  (301) 763-4600
  web: www.nps.gov/fofo/index.htm
  mailing address: Fort Washington National Park, 13551 Fort Washington Road, Fort Washington, Maryland 20744

  Six miles east of Washington, DC, Fort Foote was constructed in 1863 on Rozier's Bluff. It was one of 68 forts erected around the city for the capital's protection during the Civil War. The wood and earthen Fort, built to defend against naval attacks launched from the Potomac River, was armed with two 15-inch Rodman Cannons, four 8-inch, 200-pound Parrot Rifles, and six 30-pound Parrot Rifles.

  When the Civil War ended, the forts around Washington were taken apart and the confiscated lands on which they stood, were returned by the government to their previous owners. Fort Foote, however, was kept by the government and its structure expanded. From 1868 to 1869, the Fort was used as a prison. Eventually, in 1873, it was purchased by the government, but then abandoned in 1878. Thereafter the majority of its cannons were removed. After World War II, the Fort transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior for use as a park.

  Today, visitors can see the remains of the Fort, including two Rodman Cannons still at their posts above the Potomac River.

• Fort Washington National Park
  13551 Fort Washington Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744
  (301) 763-4600; fax: (301) 763-1389
  web: www.nps.gov/fowa/index.htm

  One of the few remaining seacoast forts in its original design, Fort Washington was first built in 1809, but was destroyed by its garrison on August 27, 1814, to prevent it from falling to the British during the War of 1812. The Fort was rebuilt and served as an active military installation until 1939, and from 1942 to 1946, when it transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Today, Fort Washington National Park offers fishing, picnic grounds, historic lectures, and reenactments.

• Greenbelt Park
  6565 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770 - 3207
  (301) 344-3944; fax: (301) 344-3736
  web: www.nps.gov/gree/index.htm

  Greenbelt Park has picnic areas, nature paths for horses and hiking, and campgrounds. The Park is right off the DC Metro Green Line for easy access to the Nation’s Capital.

• Harmony Hall
  10702 Livingston Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744
  (301) 763-4600
  web: www.nps.gov/haha/index.htm
  (Hall currently closed, grounds remains open)
  mailing address: Fort Washington National Park, 13551 Fort Washington Road, Fort Washington, Maryland 20744

  Harmony Hall, originally named Battersea, was built on land alongside Broad Creek in 1769 for a rich tobacco merchant named Enoch Magruder. It received its current name around 1792 while the house was inhabited by John and Walter Dulaney and their wives. After several owners, including explorer Robert Stein and lawyer and author Charles Wallace Collins, the brick Georgian mansion was sold to the National Park Service in 1966. Aside from the mansion, the 62.5-acre grounds also contain the remnants of Want Water or Lyles House, a partial-brick structure built circa 1704 and one of the oldest buildings in the County, as well as a canal. While the mansion is closed to the public, visitors can walk through the grounds.

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Antietam National Battlefield
Visitor Center, 5831 Dunker Church Road, Sharpsburg, MD 21782
(301) 432-5124
web: www.nps.gov/anti/index.htm

mailing address: P. O. Box 158, Sharpsburg, MD 21782 - 0158

Bloody Lane, Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland, October 2012. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

During the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia made their first invasion of the North in what was called the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Lee and his force of around 45,000 men engaged in battle with Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan and his 87,000-strong Army of the Potomac on September 17, 1862. After twelve hours of combat, nearly 23,000 men died, were wounded, or missing, making Antietam the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. Though the battle was technically a draw, Lee retreated from Maryland the next evening and this Union "victory" gave President Abraham Lincoln the opportunity to issue a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that slaves held in rebel states would be free effective January 1, 1863.
• Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal National Historical Park
  142 West Potomac St., Williamsport, MD 21795
  (301) 739-4200; fax: (301) 739-5275
  web: www.nps.gov/choh/index.htm
  Ferry Hill Plantation Visitor Center, 16500 Shepherdstown Pike, Sharpsburg MD 21782
  (closed)

  Hancock Visitor Center, Bowles House, 439 East Main St., Hancock, MD 21750
  (301) 582-0813
  web: www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/hancockvisitorcenter.htm

  Williamsport Visitor Center, 205 West Potomac St., Williamsport, MD 21795
  (301) 739-4200
  web: www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/williamsportvisitorcenter.htm

  In Washington County, the C&O Canal National History Park connects to Fort Frederick State Park, and runs just south of Antietam National Battlefield. It offers a number of boat launches and campsites, as well as access to the Appalachian Trail.

WORCESTER COUNTY

Assateague Island National Seashore
7206 National Seashore Lane, Berlin, MD 21811
(410) 641-1441
web: www.nps.gov/asis/index.htm

Assateague Island National Seashore, Berlin (Worcester County), Maryland, May 2015. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

Ranger Station & Campground Office
6633 Bayberry Drive, Berlin, MD 21811


Visitors Center
11800 Marsh View Lane, Berlin, MD 21811

Assateague Island National Seashore, Berlin (Worcester County), Maryland, October 2016. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

Protecting Chincoteague Bay from the Atlantic Ocean, Assateague Island lies just south of Ocean City in Worcester County. The Island's multiple natural vistas include marshes, forests, and sand dune beaches. The Island offers swimming areas, nature trails, and campsites, as well as views of Assateague's wild horses.

Assateague Island National Seashore, 7206 National Seashore Lane, Berlin (Worcester County), Maryland, April 2019. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

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