History Articles

Years ago, farmers looked to the moon before they did anything else. They believed that in the dark of the moon (i.e. waning), they could cut rail fences so they would stay straighter, set fence posts to resist rot, and castrate and dehorn animals for less bleeding. On the flip side, when the moon was...

The end of the calendar year is drawing near, and we know that means the holiday season is upon us. Historically, Thanksgiving and Christmas are a time to be thankful, rejoice with our families, and help...

Embedded in the lyrics of “Don’t Blink” (a song recorded by country music superstar Kenny Chesney and written about an interview with a 102-year-old man on the evening news) is the line, “Trust me friend, a hundred years goes faster than you think, so...

We know history runs deep in  Washington County, but it runs much deeper than what happened on the Antietam battlefield on Sept. 17, 1862. Decades before the Civil War, Clear Spring, now a small town of fewer than 400 people, was a thriving community, serving as a...

Mystery and romance novelist Nora Roberts saved the historic building at the intersection of Alt. Route 40 and St. Paul Street, rebuilding it from the ashes of a fire and turning it into an elegant bed and breakfast called Inn BoonsBoro. Each room is named…

By 1923 much of the town of Smithsburg had been built, and now, a century later, not much has changed. Pleasantly, Smithsburg retains its 19th-century charm and the town center is largely unencumbered by modern development. The town boundaries have been pushed out to accommodate some housing developments over the years and that has brought the population to…