Monocacy National Battlefield: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Monocacy National Battlefield, National Park Service
Temkin M and Wheelock P. 2007. Monocacy National Battlefield: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Monocacy National Battlefield, National Park Service. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 600201. NPS National Capital Regional Office. National Capital Regional Office/CLI Database
The Monocacy National Battlefield landscape is approximately 1650 acres in size. It is located about three miles south of Frederick, Maryland, in Fredrick County, only thirty miles northwest of Washington, D.C and about forty miles from Baltimore. The cultural landscape which comprises the park contains historic structures, interpretive/recreational trails, as well as a small museum located in the visitors center. Visitor access is generally by automobile via Maryland Route 355 (MD 355). Located at the western edge of the piedmont, the primarily agricultural landscape includes both riverside bottomlands and steep bluffs. It is bisected by Interstate 270, which runs southeast to northwest and straddles both the Monocacy River and MD 355. Thick riparian vegetation lines both the river and a major tributary, Bush Creek. Fence lines and roads, both modern and historic, are much in evidence. The historic route of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (now CSX Railroad) passes through the park near its northern boundary, paralleling both the river and Bush Creek. Commercial and residential development is to be found just outside much of the park boundary. The park landscape is defined by its periods of development, which begin in the mid-eighteenth century and continue to the present day. In the eighteenth century speculators, frontiersmen, and early settlers gave shape to the landscape by mapping and patenting tracts and clearing areas for cultivation. In the nineteenth century, the rise of milling, the development of a transportation system of turnpikes and railroads, and agricultural innovation led to an extended period of prosperity. This prosperity was only slightly affected by the Civil War and the Battle of Monocacy. However, due to this historic event, the existing agricultural landscape would acquire a commemorative overlay in the form of monuments and the eventual creation of a national park. The twentieth century then gave rise to an increasingly suburban landscape. The integrity of the landscape to both its periods of significance (1860-1890 and 1890-1934) remains very high because Monocacy National Battlefield retains significant landscape elements. These include the agricultural landscape of the eighteenth century, the military landscape of the 1864 battle, and the early twentieth-century commemorative landscape.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Temkin, Martha; Wheelock, Perry
- Date of Issue
- 2007-09-26
- Publisher
- NPS National Capital Regional Office
- Units
- MONO , NCR
- Keywords
- Agriculture, Barn, Battle Site, Battles In The North And South, Commemoration, Commerce, defense, domestic, Education, Farming Communities, Farming for Local Markets, historic site, Historic Vernacular Landscape, Interpretive Landscape, Land Tenure Systems, Marker, Military, Monocacy River, Railroads, Recreation, residential, Scenic Landscape, The Civil War, trade, Transportation