Burkittsville

History

English settlement in this region began in the early 18th century. Land was being surveyed and patented in the south-western portion of the Middletown Valley beginning in the 1720s. The first land tract to be patented within the present boundaries of Burkittsville was "Dawson's Purchase", dated May 14, 1741. The Harley/Arnold Farm, located on the western border of the village at the base of South Mountain, stands on the "Dawson's Purchase" tract. Burkittsville was first founded by two property owners: Major Joshua Harley and Henry Burkitt. The western half was first founded as "Harley's Post Office" in 1824. After Harley's passing in 1828, Burkitt renamed it Burkittsville. Over the next thirty years it grew as a community with stores, shops, blacksmiths, a schoolhouse, and a tannery. On September 13, 1862, Confederate cavalry under command of Colonel Thomas Munford (under General J.E.B. Stuart) occupied Burkittsville. On Sunday, September 14, the forces of the Union and Confederate armies engaged in the Battle of Crampton's Gap, a bloody prelude to the Battle of Antietam. The Reformed and Lutheran churches and adjacent schoolhouse were used as hospitals for the more than 300 wounded of both sides. These buildings still stand today. Routinely characterized as the trigger to Antietam, victory at Crampton's Gap embodied Union Gen. George B. McClellan's strategic reaction to his acquiring the legendary “Lost Order” at Frederick which disclosed Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's campaign movements. It was McClellan's intention to “cut the enemy in two and beat him in detail”. After seizing Crampton's Gap Gen. William B. Franklin failed to relieve the besieged Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, and more importantly to prevent Confederate generals James Longstreet and…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Tuscarora High
  High · Frederick · 1,717 students · 19.3:1 ratio
• Middletown High
  High · Middletown · 1,097 students · 20.3:1 ratio
• Brunswick High
  High · Brunswick · 862 students · 19.6:1 ratio
• Waverley Elementary
  Elementary · Frederick · 844 students · 13:1 ratio
• Ballenger Creek Middle
  Middle · Frederick · 805 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• Middletown Middle
  Middle · Middletown · 799 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Tuscarora Elementary
  Elementary · Frederick · 781 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• Brunswick Elementary
  Elementary · Brunswick · 752 students · 17.5:1 ratio