Joseph Poffenberger Farmstead: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Antietam National Battlefield, National Park Service

Joseph, Maureen; Barrett, Timothy

The Joseph Poffenberger Farmstead is situated approximately 2 miles north of the Town of Sharpsburg in Washington County, Maryland. The current property consists of nearly all of the land associated with the Joseph Poffenberger Farmstead as it existed at the time of the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), September 17, 1862. The current property, consisting of 120 acres, was acquired by the National Park Service in fee-simple from a private landowner on June 8, 2000 and is located within the boundaries of the Antietam National Battlefield which encompass a total of 3288 acres. The Joseph Poffenberger Farmstead landscape is significant in two distinct areas of history. Its foremost significance in military history (1861-1865) results from its role in the Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War. The property is also significant in the area of conservation for its involvement in early Civil War battlefield preservation efforts (1890-1910). The Antietam National Battlefield National Register nomination mentions the farmstead but it inadequately describes the physical landscape for the Joseph Poffenberger property. Most of the commemorative elements are mentioned, but again their placement within the landscape is not addressed.The agricultural landscape of the Sharpsburg area served as the stage for the bloodiest day in the Civil War. Union troops spent the night on the Joseph Poffenberger farm before the ensuing battle. The next day during the morning phase of the battle on September 17, 1862, the Union Army positioned artillery on a ridge line behind Joseph Poffenberger’s cluster of farm buildings. All through the day and successive weeks after the battle, the Poffenberger farmstead was occupied by the Union troops. During their occupation, they utilized most of Poffenberger’s store goods, wood products, and animals to keep the troops and horses fed and sheltered. The Union’s occupation had lasting effects on the community and on Joseph Poffenberger’s limited resources. Over the next hundred-forty years, the Poffenberger property was maintained in much the same way as it was during the 1860s. The only major changes occurred in the 1880s when the Poffenbergers constructed an ell addition for the farmhouse and in the 1890s when the War Department laid out a Battlefield tour road along the southern boundary. This brought the installation of several monuments by veteran groups in the early 1900s and construction of a new Poffenberger farm lane to the main cluster of buildings. Today the property exhibits a high degree of integrity to the Civil War and battlefield preservation eras. Most of the field patterns remain the same and are currently maintained through an agricultural leasing program. The farm buildings still reflect their arrangement and use even though some buildings are in need of emergency stabilization to prevent their loss. Since the National Park Service purchased the property, the park staff has directed their attention to assessing and stabilizing the pre-1862 buildings. To evoke a sense of the historic landscape, the park staff has also installed several miles of period fencing in key areas. The tour road and monuments continue to be maintained and are key historic elements to the interpretation and commemoration of the Battle.

Joseph Poffenberger Farmstead: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Antietam National Battlefield, National Park Service

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