JOURNEY THROUGH FREDERICK'S BLACK HISTORY

Sandwiched between the Mason-Dixon line in the north and the Potomac River at the south, Frederick County was located on the perilous border between North and South. Slavery took root in Frederick County in colonial times, where owners of farms, plantations, and even iron furnaces, benefitted from the toil of enslaved workers. Frederick’s close ties with Pennsylvania ensured, however, that a sizable free Black population called Frederick County home.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Frederick County experienced the tramp of armies, the shot and shell of battle, and the sufferings of the wounded. Black residents assisted in the hospitals and volunteered to serve in the United States Army. The Civil War’s aftermath brought a new birth of freedom to Frederick County, and in its wake African Americans opened schools, churches and built entirely new communities.

In the century and a half since emancipation, Frederick’s

Black community has faced adversity with grace and perseverance. Despite Jim Crow and segregation in the early 20th century, African American innovators and change-makers shaped their community. Local leaders brought the Civil Rights Movement to Frederick, ushering in an era of increasing inclusivity and opportunity.

Explore these three sites that bring Black history to life in Frederick County, Maryland.

Feel the heat of smelters at Catoctin Furnace in Thurmont, Maryland, where expert African metal workers helped build our nation by forging an array of ironworks, including cannonballs used to win American independence. Experience the Museum of the Iron Worker in the village to come face-to-face with the furnace’s enslaved workers and the iron products they assembled.

With Frederick County’s strategic location in Maryland, the region became the heart of the Civil War. The area became a battleground in the fight to end slavery, with Frederick’s Black community serving important roles as laborers, medical caretakers and soldiers. And in the years of struggle that followed the war, this community charted a new course of freedom. The fraught journey from slavery to war to freedom can be traced on the hallowed ground of Monocacy National Battlefield

These sites will take your group through a landscape that was shaped by Frederick’s Black residents dating back to the founding of the United States, exploring how the community changed not only the course of our region’s history, but the nation’s as well.

See

When it comes to cultural heritage, distinctive cuisine, diverse terrain, musical significance and an overall festive vibe, there are few places in the U.S. that can boast all of these appeals more than Louisiana.

Named after King Louis XIV of France, and home to a population with African, Canadian, French, Native American, European and Haitian roots, the Bayou State offers a wealth of activities and attractions to explore.

By Allison Kay Bannister