Foundation Works to Save History For the Future

HISTORY \\

FOUNDATION WORKS to save history, for the future

The Frederick County Landmarks Foundation is a private nonprofit organization that promotes the preservation of historic sites, structures, natural landmarks and communities of Frederick County, and strives to increase knowledge and appreciation of them.

To further its educational mission the foundation not only holds special events that provide the public with a window to Frederick’s historic past, but also shares the knowledge of other historical places in Frederick.

The foundation owns the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum. The museum is housed in one of the oldest in Frederick County homes that is one of the best examples in America of how German settlers adapted their traditions to the American frontier. Its distinctively German features led the U.S. Department of the Interior to name it a National Historic Landmark.

Visitors to the Schifferstadt may tour the four-bedroom house, including its huge kitchen with a sink that drains outdoors, and go downstairs to the large, barrel-vaulted cellar that served as the refrigerator of the 18th century. Guides will show you around the house and give you more of the story behind this fascinating chapter of American history.

The story of Schifferstadt began as part of the great German migration in the 1600s and 1700s when tens of thousands of Germans fled their ravaged native land to seek a better life in America. Joseph and Cathrina Brunner led three generations of their family toward Frederick, and in 1736 most of the Brunner family moved to what is now Frederick County and began farming a 303-acre tract of land. They called it Schifferstadt, after their hometown in the German region of the Palatinate.

The Landmarks Foundation also owns one of the most architecturally unique, and oldest known, standing buildings in Frederick County, the Beatty-Cramer House. Located in the Mt. Pleasant District of Frederick County, the Beatty-Cramer House site is home to three structures. The primary building is a combination of the circa-1748 Beatty portion of the house, the circa-1855 Cramer addition, and later renovations. The two outbuildings are an 18th century springhouse and a 19th century smokehouse.

It is one of the six most important historical houses in Maryland, according to the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT). In 1987, Orlando Ridout V, Chief of the Office of Survey and Registration for MHT, stated, “I cannot think of any other building that combines so many uncommon features in one place.”

The Landmarks Foundation also offers a historic plaques program and a historic homes preservation program. It offers financial grants to qualified homeowners of private residences in the Frederick Town

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Historic District. Grants are administered under terms set forth through the Converse Family Endowment Fund held by the Community Foundation of Frederick County. The grants are for renovation or rehabilitation of the front façade of dwellings in keeping with the guidelines of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.

Under the foundation’s plaque program, plaques are awarded to property owners of buildings and structures that are more than 100 years of age, possess historical and/or architectural significance, and retain physical integrity. They recognize and encourage good stewardship.

The plaques are black cast iron ovals representing the foundation’s logo. A brass plate, etched with the property’s unique registry number, is affixed to the center.

The Schifferstadt Architectural Museum was the first building to be recognized by the program and is registered as plaque #001. A registry of plaque-granted properties is maintained by the foundation. For more information, visit the foundation’s website.

2019 Historic Preservation Awards

The Landmarks Foundation of Frederick County has planned its inaugural awards program to celebrate projects and people whose contributions demonstrate excellence in historic preservation in Frederick city and Frederick County. Anyone may nominate individuals, organizations and companies that are most deserving of these honors.

Categories include: Bricks and Mortar Rehabilitation, New Construction, Stewardship, Community Leadership, Craftsmanship, Mayor’s Award, County Executive’s Award

​Nominations are due by 5 p.m., on July 15. Download submission criteria and nomination forms at fredericklandmarks.org

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Frederick County Landmarks Foundation 1110 Rosemont Ave., Frederick 301-668-6088 fredericklandmarks.org

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF VISIT FREDERICK