Hagerstown Asbury United Methodist Church 155 N Jonathan St, 21740 301-791-0498 Founded in 1818, the oldest African-American church in Hagerstown. umc.org/find-a-church/ church/79908 Doleman Black Heritage Museum 33–35 W Washington St, Room 210, 21740 301-797-5019 Collection of black history artifacts and books depict the lives of local African Americans; dolls, souvenir buttons, WWII memorabilia. dolemanblack heritagemuseum.org Miller House 135 W Washington St, 21740 301-797-8782 Features a Civil War room, C&O Canal room and an extensive local research library devoted to local history and genealogy. washcohistory.org/ miller-house Sharpsburg Antietam Ironworks 3912 Harper’s Ferry Rd, 21782 301-739-4200 Built in 1768, the furnace produced goods for the Revolutionary War, relying on the labor of both enslaved and free blacks. National Register of Historic Places. canaltrust.org/pyv/ antietam-ironworks Antietam National Battlefield Rt 65 & Sharpsburg Pike, 5831 Dunker Church Rd, 21782 301-432-5124 Site of the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. Many view this battle as the turning point needed for Abraham Lincoln to announce the Emancipation Proclamation. Offers interpretive programs, tours and audio-visual programs. nps.gov/anti Ferry Hill Plantation 16500 Shepherdstown Pike, C&O Canal National Historical Park, 21782 301-582-0813 On the C&O Canal and Potomac River, both major thoroughfares for freedom seekers heading North, Ferry Hill was once a thriving plantation that used enslaved and free black labor. Records show that runaways from here were taken to the Hagerstown jail. A $200 bounty was paid for capturing five enslaved persons from here. nps.gov/choh/learn/ historyculture/ferryhill.htm Kennedy Farm House (John Brown HQ) 2406 Chestnut Grove Rd, 21782 • 202-537-8900 Old farmhouse that served as a staging area for John Brown’s pre-Civil War raid on a federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry. johnbrown.org Tolson’s Chapel 111 E High St, 21782 Founded in 1866, Tolson’s Chapel was a Methodist Church built on land donated by the Craig family. John Tolson was the church’s first minister. A Freedman’s Bureau School operated in the church from 1868 to 1870. The cemetery has burials dating back to the 19th century. tolsonschapel.org CPL. WILLIAM OTHELLO WILSON (1867–1928) received a Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration, for bravery after volunteering for a courier mission during the Sioux Campaign in 1890. The Hagerstown resident is the subject of a book titled Black Valor and is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery. For a Maryland Calendar of Events, go to www.visitmaryland.org 12 Maryland’s Underground Railroad & African-American Heritage Travel Guide
African American Heritage Guide 2025 African American Heritage Guide: Page 12
