![[photo, Sideling Hill, west of Hancock, Washington County, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/wa/images/1198-1-06641c.jpg)
1756. Fort Frederick erected; protected frontier settlers during French and Indian War.
1762. Elizabeth Town (later Hagerstown) laid out by Jonathan Hager.
1765, Aug. Surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon reached South Mountain.
1766, April. Mason and Dixon surveyed Sideling Hill.
Sideling Hill, west of Hancock, Washington County, Maryland, October 2014. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1785. First Courthouse completed at Hagerstown.
1790. Stewart Herbert began printing Elizabeth Town (now Hagerstown) Washington Spy, first newspaper west of Blue Ridge Mountains.
1813. Hagerstown incorporated (Chapter 121, Acts of 1813, Dec. session).
1820, Sept. 8. William T. Hamilton (1820-1888), Governor of Maryland, 1880-84, born in Hagerstown.
1823. Williamsport incorporated.
1823. Second Courthouse completed at Hagerstown, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
1827, July 4. Boonsboro citizens dedicated monument to George Washington, South Mountain.
1828, Nov. James W. C. Pennington, a slave in Washington County, escaped to freedom in Pennsylvania.
1831. Boonsboro incorporated.
1832. Sharpsburg incorporated.
1836. Clear Spring incorporated.
1840. Funkstown incorporated.
1841. Smithsburg incorporated.
1853. Hancock incorporated.
1862, Jan. 5-6. Battle of Hancock.
1862, Sept. 14. Battle of South Mountain; Union troops forced Confederates from Crampton's and Turner's gaps.
1862, Sept. 17. Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg), 4,800 dead, 18,000 wounded.
1862, Oct. 10-12. Gen. Jeb Stuart's cavalry rode through Washington, Frederick and Montgomery counties during raid into Pennsylvania.
1863, late June- early July. Gen. Robert E. Lee's army passed through Washington County en route to Gettysburg and in retreat.
1864, July 6. Hagerstown held for ransom by Confederate forces under Gen. Jubal Early.
1871, Dec. 6. Courthouse destroyed by fire at Hagerstown.
1872. Keedysville incorporated.
1872.Western Maryland Railroad completed line, Hagerstown to Baltimore.
![[photo, Courthouse, 95 West Washington St. Hagerstown, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/wa/images/1198-1-758.jpg)
1874. Third Courthouse dedicated at Hagerstown.
1892, May 12. William Preston Lane, Jr. (1892-1967), Governor of Maryland, 1947-51, born in Hagerstown.
1894, April 24. "Coxey's Army" reached Boonsboro on route to Washington, DC.
Courthouse, 95 West Washington St. Hagerstown, Maryland, June 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1905, April. Washington County experimented successfully with horse-drawn bookmobile.
1905, Oct. 26. Washington County Hospital opened in Hagerstown.
1925. Ammon H. Kreider and Lewis E. Reisner began building single-engine airplanes, Hagerstown.
1931. Maryland State Penal Farm (now Maryland Correctional Institution) organized at Hagerstown.
![[photo, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, City Park, Hagerstown, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/museums/wa/images/1198-1-787.jpg)
1931, Sept. 16. Washington County Museum of Fine Arts opened at Hagerstown.
1933, July. State Congress of Farmers and Workers convened in Hagerstown.
1939. Fairchild Company won competition for Army trainer with PT-19.
Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, City Park, Hagerstown, Maryland, June 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1956. Washington County educational television project began.
1965. Appalachian Regional Commission established by federal statute.
1967, Nov. Richard A. Henson inaugurated air service between Hagerstown and Baltimore.
1968. Governor's Council for Appalachian Maryland created.
1970. I-70 opened from Frederick to Hancock.
1971. Tri-County Council for Western Maryland formed.
1983, Dec. Roxbury Correctional Institution opened at Hagerstown.
1998, July 1. Hagerstown Junior College renamed Hagerstown Community College.
2004, March 2. Electronic voting system used during primary elections at polling places and for absentee ballots in all counties and Baltimore City.
2005, Jan. University System of Maryland Hagerstown opened.
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