Hagerstown History, Maryland

It was the year 1739 when a German Immigrant namely Jonathan Hager had purchased around 200 acres of land for his personal use and called it as Hager’s Fancy. The location of this land was between the famous Allegheny Mountains and the beautiful Blue Ridge which is today the exact location for the city of Hagerstown. Later on, in 1762 Jonathan Hager officially laid the foundation for a town in the land and named the town as Elizabeth Town. This name was inspired from the name of his wife, Elizabeth Kershner.

It took another 14 years for the city of Hagerstown to be tagged as the seat for the county of Washington and it is the reason why Jonathan Hager was named as the Father of Washington County. It was the year 1813 when the council of this city changed the name of this town to Hagerstown as this name had till then gained huge publicity. Soon the State Legislature of Maryland officially recognized the name changing process and hence the city since then has been called as Hagerstown.

It was the Civil War when the importance of this city jumped up by many folds as it started to act as an important supply hub and a staging area during 4 different campaigns that were part of this famous Civil War. It was the year 1861 when Major General Robert Patterson’s army attacked different Virginia Rebels using Hagerstown as its base. All these incidents had increased the importance of Hagerstown very much in last couple of years.

The city of Hagerstown was also hit by smallpox that had spread into the city due to the returning troops who would carry such diseases from the war front. During war times, many doctors and physicians took care of injured troops and this was the time when the bonding between these troops and various locals of the city increased thus helping the future of the city.

The city of Hagerstown was nicknamed Hub City due to the availability of many railway lines that used to pass through the city and connect the city to many major neighboring cities. Along with different railway lines, the city of Hagerstown slowly developed the perfect system of roads that easily made the connection to many other cities, which were till now out of reach.