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Learn About Burkittsville, Maryland
Burkittsville is a historic village in Frederick County. It shares a border to the north with the community of Rohrersville and the community of Middletown. Located to the east is the community of Braddock Heights. Burkittsville shares a border to the west with the community of Brownsville. Located to the south is the community of Brunswick.
The village lies in the southern Middletown Valley along the eastern base of South Mountain. It is a residential community. The economy of Burkittsville is based in agriculture and tourism. Burkittsville was also made a subject of national attention in 1999. The village was used as the setting of the horror film The Blair Witch Project. Attractions near Burkittsville include the Gathland State Park and the Appalachian Trail. According to the United States Census Bureau, Burkittsville has a total area of 0.45 square miles. All of the village’s area is land.
Settlement by the English in this region began in the early 18th century. Land was being surveyed and patented in the south-western portion of the Middletown Valley in the 1720s. The first land tract to be patented within the present boundaries of Burkittsville was “Dawson’s Purchase.” This was done on May 14, 1741.
Burkittsville was first founded by two property owners. They were Major Joshua Harley and Henry Burkitt. The western half was first founded as “Harley’s Post Office” in 1824. Harley passed away in 1828. Burkitt then renamed it Burkittsville. Over the next thirty years, the village grew as a community with stores, shops, blacksmiths, a schoolhouse, and a tannery.
Burkittsville was the scene of the Battle of Crampton’s Gap on September 14, 1862. This was part of the Battle of South Mountain during the Civil War. Confederate cavalry under command of Colonel Thomas Munford and General J.E.B. Stuart occupied Burkittsville. The Reformed and Lutheran churches and adjacent schoolhouse were used as hospitals for the more than 300 wounded of both sides. These buildings still stand today.
Nearly all of Burkittsville is a historic district. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 1975. The Burkittsville historic district contains 300 acres and includes about 70 structures. It is also part of the larger Crampton’s Gap Historic District. That comprises the southern portion of the land involved in the Battle of South Mountain. It extends from the western side of Crampton’s Gap, over South Mountain and about a mile to the east of Burkittsville.