I felt trapped at home, first because of a previous snowfall that refused to melt and later by a bout of the flu. Mentally I needed a change of scenery just to get away for awhile and reset my attitude. So this seemed like a perfect time to add another new overnight county to my County Counting list.
I’ve driven through Maryland’s Washington County dozens of times on the way to Ohio, or western Pennsylvania, or up to Michigan. It sits atop a logical route that cuts cleanly through the county from east to west. However, that’s the rub: I always kept going because it was on the path to somewhere else. Why would I stop after covering barely an hour at the beginning an extended road trip?
So that’s why I now targeted a triangle that outlined the borders of Washington County. It was an easy destination and yet seemingly unfamiliar.
Into Hagerstown
I selected Hagerstown as our headquarters because it fell near the center of Washington County and it offered plenty of overnight accommodations. It was both the seat of government for the county and its largest town, with more than forty thousand residents at the intersection of two interstate highways.
Interstates 70 and 81 crossed at the city’s southwestern edge, with several familiar hotel brands catering to long distance travelers clustered by nearby exits. Nonetheless, anyone barreling down the highway couldn’t even see downtown from there even if they decided to stop. I had no idea what to expect from Hagerstown beyond what its visitor’s guide wanted me to know.
Downtown Historic District
So we checked into our hotel on the outskirts of the city, out by the highway, and headed towards downtown to see what it might offer on a Saturday afternoon.
Hagerstown has been around for a long time, settled all the way back to the 1700’s, although it didn’t really start cranking until railroads arrived during the following century. Then it became “Hub City,” a convenient central location where multiple lines converged. Manufacturing followed and the city prospered in the years after the Civil War and for decades afterwards.
Now downtown looked like its heyday passed sometime in the latter part of the 20th Century. Portions of it were clearly struggling, although signs of recovery appeared too. It felt like Hagerstown probably hit rock bottom awhile ago, turned a corner, and then began an arduous climb back up. I wouldn’t call it gentrified — too soon — although it seemed like one possible outcome. But it still had plenty of gritty visible.
South Prospect Street
We strolled down into the South Prospect Street historic district. This is where the rich people must have lived during Hagerstown’s prime. The houses were unbelievably large and ornate, sitting atop a low ridge featuring a view across downtown, with Elk Mountain a distant backdrop. Anyone who appreciated architecture would enjoy this neighborhood.
Most of the homes appeared to be split into multiple apartments today, although still remaining faithful to the original designs.
City Park
Then we continued down South Prospect Street until we arrived at the City Park. It was the first pleasant day in weeks, well above freezing with bright blue skies and a light breeze. Ice still clung to the surface of the pond although it was melting away. We followed a path around the water to our next stop on the other side.
Museum of Fine Arts
I heard good things about the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts ahead of time. Even so, it exceeded expectations. And admission is free! It must have a pretty impressive endowment to provide this level of quality without charging an entry fee.
It grew out of the private collection of the artist William Henry Singer and his wife, Anna Brugh Singer and their initial 1929 donation. The museum focused on American art although it also included significant European works as well as various rotating special exhibits. Anyone visiting Hagerstown should stop here for an hour or two.
Hagerstown Cultural Trail
Hagerstown created what they call a cultural trail that led from the art museum, back around the pond, and into the heart of downtown about a mile away. So we continued to explore outdoors, following signage from one end of the trail to the other. It offered a pleasant stroll past public artworks, historical markers, the new baseball stadium (Meritus Park, home of the Flying Boxcars), and onward towards Hagerstown’s small local outpost of the University System of Maryland.
Bonus Wandering
That was a nice walk, and we decided to poke around a little further because it was stunningly perfect weather for mid-February. So we wandered up and down many of the major streets downtown and popped into some of the back alleys where we could see behind the facades. I always enjoy getting a peek on the other side of the curtain, the places where outsiders aren’t necessary expected to venture.
Sure, I found some occasional urban decay and maybe a few local denizens a bit down on their luck, but it never felt dangerous. Of course it was a bright, sunny afternoon with plenty of people milling about. Maybe I’d feel differently late at night but that’s also true in many places.
Hub City Brewery
Eventually we felt like we’d seen pretty much everything so we finished our loop at Hub City Brewery. We planned this beforehand and left our car in one of the nearby municipal lots before heading out. Parking was free on the weekend so that was a nice bonus.
Hub City Brewery once served as the site of Hagerstown’s City Farmers Market (now seasonal, and held just outside the building), and it was cavernous. A trivia contest was underway but I wasn’t feeling it so we found a quieter spot further away from the action. We ordered some burgers and split a flight of small-pour beers, and that was our Valentine’s Day dinner. That counts as romantic when you’ve been married as long as we have. Then we drove back to our hotel on the outskirts of town, out by Interstate 70.
The brewery is also a distillery (Church Street Distilling) so you can order craft cocktails and liquor flights if that’s your thing.
Then the next day we planned to focus more broadly across Washington County.
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