Local Spotlight

By Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner 

A brief history of Middletown: 

Founded in 1767, Middletown lies about 60 miles west of Baltimore, eight miles west of the City of Frederick, and 20 miles southeast of Hagerstown, in Frederick County, Maryland. The town sits along the original National Road, the first federally funded road, created by an act of Congress in 1806.  

One if its greatest claims to fame is that during the Civil War, Middletown was a route for both armies to the historic battles waged at Antietam (20 miles to the west on the border of West Virginia) and South Mountain (25 miles north on the Pennsylvania border). Following the famously gruesome battles, Middletown’s churches and homes tended to the wounded, among them Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, future reconstructionist and 19th President of the United States. 

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