The town of Boonsboro became well known for it’s delicious “Hearts of Gold” cantaloupes. In the 20th century, agriculture products and fruit were the principal source of income for the rural area around Boonsboro. In the late 19th century, Boonsboro was chosen as the setting for a famous Civil War play named “Heart of Maryland,” which later became a successful silent motion picture. Soldiers were transported to Boonsboro throughout two of the bloodiest battles at South Mountain and Antietam. During the Civil War, Boonsboro’s churches and public buildings were used as makeshift hospitals for wounded soldiers. This was the first battle of the Civil War fought on northern soil. On September 14, 1862, the Battle of South Mountain began. Incorporated in 1831, the citizens of Boonsboro held the Town’s first election. By 1830, the population of Boonsboro had grown to 707. The rugged stone monument stands 34 feet in height, and is located on part of the Appalachian Trail. In 1827, the citizens of Boonsboro erected the first monument to honor President George Washington at the top of South Mountain. This was the first time the road building process was used in the United States. In 1823, a new process called “macadam” was used to finish an unpaved section of the turnpike from Boonsboro to Hagerstown. Boonsboro’s growth and prosperity increased in part by the construction of the Bank Road, later know as the National Road, a turnpike connecting Baltimore to the west. In 1803, 11 years after the town was established, there were only 24 houses. William died in 1798 and he and Susanna are buried in Boonsboro.īoonsboro did not grow very rapidly. The name was later changed to Margaretsville in honor of George Boone’s wife and then changed several times throughout the years from Margaretsville to Margaret Boones Ville, to Boonesborough, and finally to Boonsboro. George and William Boone called their new town Boones Berry, though the original deeds of all town lots recorded at Washington County Courthouse used the name Boonesberry Town or Town of Boones Berry. The correct date of the town’s founding is 1792. Frederick Netal paid 5 pounds for lot #15. The sale of the first lot was recorded on November 11, 1792. The majority of the original 44 lots were 82.5 feet wide by 264 feet deep. Using the secondary wagon road that turned off toward Shaprsburgh as the center or “town square”, the Boones laid out a total of 44 half-acre lots (22 along each side of the main road). With the help of his brother George, William began to plan the town. This tract of land, called Fellowship, was adjacent to his farm and lay along the wagon road from Fredericktown to Hagerstown. On July 26, 1791, William Boone purchased 140 additional acres from Valentine Nicodemus. A year later, they moved into a log house on Beale’s Chance, a 100-acre farm, which surrounded what is now Potomac Street. William Boone and Susanna Parks were married in 1778. The brothers and Daniel had the same grandfather, George Boone III. Nestled at the foot of South Mountain between Hagerstown and Frederick, lies a rural town founded in 1792 by two brothers, George and William Boone, cousins of Daniel Boone.
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