January 10 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
On Friday, January 10, join historian, author, and Antietam Battlefield guide Steve Stotelmyer as he explores a local South Mountain Civil War mystery, “The Legend of Wise’s Well: A South Mountain Mystery.”
This talk features the history of Fox’s Gap, a gap in South Mountain that witnessed some of the heaviest engagements of the Battle of South Mountain during the Civil War. Is the Legend of Wise’s Well simply an urban legend, or is there some truth to it, too?
This month’s cocktail is the Cranberry Pomegranate Bellini, a festive cocktail for the new year made of cranberry and pomegranate juice topped with Prosecco. Doors open at 5:30 PM and light hors d’oeuvres will be served!
Culture & Cocktails 2025 has been made possible by the generous support of the James and Mary Schurz Foundation.
$20 – $30
20 members/30 non-members
January 2, 2025
On Friday, January 10, join historian, author, and Antietam Battlefield guide Steve Stotelmyer as he explores a local South Mountain Civil War mystery, “The Legend of Wise’s Well: A South Mountain Mystery.” This talk features the history of Fox’s Gap, a gap in South Mountain that witnessed some of the heaviest engagements of the Battle of South Mountain during the Civil War. Is the Legend of Wise’s Well simply an urban legend, or is there some truth to it, too? This month’s cocktail is the Cranberry Pomegranate Bellini, a festive cocktail for the new year made of cranberry and pomegranate juice topped with Prosecco. Doors open at 5:30 PM and light hors d’oeuvres will be served! Culture & Cocktails 2025 has been made possible by the generous support of the James and Mary Schurz Foundation.
July 14, 2024
By Zach Brooks and Abigail Koontz There’s a new exhibit at the Miller House Museum in downtown Hagerstown that recalls one of the most dramatic incidents in the city’s history. As if July were not hot enough, in the summer of 1864, the fourth summer of the Civil War, Confederate Brig. Gen. John McCausland rode into town and demanded $20,000 and 1,500 sets of clothing for his cavalrymen. And if Hagerstown’s residents did not meet the demand within four hours, he promised to burn the whole town down. By the afternoon of July 6, McCausland — who was part of a Confederate contingent led by Lt. Gen. Jubal Early and bent on taking the war straight to Washington — had taken control of Hagerstown. Mayor John Cook, a merchant, had fled north. McCausland convened with Councilman Matthew S. Barber, who also was treasurer of the Hagerstown Bank, and bank teller John H. Kausler at Byer’s Drug Store in Public Square; and then again, joined by Hagerstown Bank president and former Congressman James Dixon Roman, at the Washington County Courthouse. They reached an agreement to raise the $20,000, though there was a dispute over the provision of 1,500 suits of clothes. Eventually, McCausland […]
May 21, 2024
Article Author: Abigail Koontz (This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail May, 2024) Hats have long fulfilled many roles, from functionality to symbols of self-expression and social status. One iconic hat of the last two centuries is the top hat. Two 19th-century silk top hats in the Washington County Historical Society’s collection offer glimpses into early local hat manufacturers — particularly the hatter George Updegraff. When top hats emerged in the 1790s, descending from earlier styles like the 17th century Pilgrim hat, they were made from felted beaver fur. Beaver felt top hats were initially expensive status symbols, but they were also functional, as beaver fur shed water. Beaver fur was so popular the European beaver population had been depleted by the mid-1600s. French fur traders sought beaver pelts in North America, trading with native populations for furs or hunting down beavers along rivers. Trappers moved further west, decimating beaver populations and spreading malaria through native populations, until reaching California by the 1820s. As pelts flooded American markets, the prevalence of American beaver felt top hats grew, influenced by European fashions. Washington County was no exception. On Aug. 12, 1823, the Maryland Herald announced that the hat manufacturing firm, Updegraff […]
January 9, 2018
By Anna Cueto Prior to becoming the curator for the Miller House Museum, I trained at the University of Pittsburgh to become an archivist. It’s one of the top archives programs in the country, and I say this not to completely toot my own horn, but because attending the program taught me some extremely valuable information about handling items like film, photographs, and documents. And I like sharing that information with people, but with one large change: I like to teach people how to archive on a budget. The holidays are a perfect time to think about archiving or preserving your family photographs, movies, and other memories, because often, you already are planning on seeing the people who hold most of the information that you need! So with the holidays in mind, here is a short guide to gathering, organizing, and storing your family photographs like an archivist. The first and most important thing is to evaluate what you have, what you would like to save, and how you are currently storing it. Artifacts are like people – they do not like to be too hot or cold, too wet or too dry, and they really do not like being […]
CORPORATE PARTNERS
