The history of Frederick, Maryland, is quite extensive, harkening back to various Native American tribes that once inhabited the region centuries ago. An extensive network of indigenous people, including the Shawnee and the Susquehannock, often passed through the location by way of interconnected pathways remembered as the “Monocacy Trail.” Those wilderness routes began to attract scores of European settlers, particularly German immigrants who were attempting to reach places like Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Rumors persisted about the area’s supposed soil infertility, which discouraged widespread settlement for decades. But everything changed when prominent surveyor Daniel Dulany began acquiring large tracts of land throughout the region during the 1740s. Recognizing the economic potential the territory posed, Dulaney intended to create a pastoral market town called “Frederick” that would anchor the greater community of farms in western Maryland. (Surviving historical records propose several theories behind the name “Frederick,” although most seem to suggest that it was derived from Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore.) To that end, Dulaney started selling plots of land within the community to the many families passing through the site. Much to Dulaney’s delight, an agricultural renaissance spread across the local countryside, which in turn gave Frederick’s residents access to more economic opportunities.

The community’s population subsequently swelled, eventually reaching the size of an actual city! Frederick had thus emerged as the region’s most important urban center by the middle of the 18th century, becoming the central nexus for all trade heading deeper inland. In fact, British General Edward Braddock marched his column of colonial troops through Frederick on his way to attack Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War. This era of unprecedented prosperity continued into the following century, too, with many new building projects coming to change the city forever. Whereas rudimentary log cabins had previously constituted Frederick’s neighborhoods, gorgeous brick edifices were now lining its many verdant thoroughfares that displayed contemporary architectural forms like Federal and Greek Revival. But this golden age eventually ended abruptly once the American Civil War erupted during the 1860s. Located on the border between the North and South, Frederick regularly found itself caught between competing armies throughout the entire course of the conflict. The most consequential of those contests was when the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia invaded Maryland in the late summer of 1862. Using Frederick as their main base of operations, the Southerners had attempted to push further into Union-held territory until they were confronted outside of the city by the Union Army of the Potomac that September.

Numerous battles were fought around Frederick at places like South Mountain and Sharpsburg, with thousands of wounded soldiers congregating in the city for medical support. Seven makeshift hospitals debuted in Frederick as a result, which cared for countless Union and Confederate soldiers left behind once the fighting ended. Frederick returned to being an important commercial center in the years following the war, although its economy shifted more toward industry rather than sticking with its historic agricultural roots. The city has continued to be among the principal metropolises in the region, serving as home to an array of businesses, educational institutions, and even federal facilities like Fort Detrick and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research. Frederick has emerged as a top site for tourism given its extensive number of wonderful cultural attractions, such as the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and the Weinberg Center for the Arts. Downtown Frederick is an especially popular national historic district, due to the stunning amount of 18th and 19th-century buildings that are still standing inside its boundaries. Frederick is even close to a dense variety of sites affiliated to the nation’s history, including South Mountain State Park, Catoctin Mountain Park, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, Monocacy National Battlefield, and Antietam National Battlefield.

The earliest known portions of the Visitation Academy of Frederick display elements of Federal-style architecture. Historically speaking, Federal architecture dominated American cities and towns during the nation’s formative years from 1780 to 1840. The name is a tribute to that period, in which America’s first political leaders sought to establish the foundations of the current federal government. Fundamentally, the architectural form had evolved from the earlier Georgian design principles that had influenced both British and American culture throughout most of the 18th century. The similarities between the two art forms have even inspired some scholars to refer to Federalist architecture as a mere refinement of the earlier Georgian aesthetic. Oddly enough though, the architect deemed responsible for popularizing Federal style in the United States was in fact not an American. Robert Adams was then the United Kingdom’s most popular architect, with his work featuring his own distinctive infusion of neoclassical design principles with Georgian architecture. His new variation spread quickly across England, defining its civic landscape for much of the Napoleonic Era. But despite the bitter resentments that most Americans harbored toward Great Britain at the time, their cultural perceptions of the world were still largely influenced by the old mother country. Adams’ new take on Georgian architecture thus rapidly spread across the United States, laying the foundation for the iconic “Federal” architectural style.

Unlike many other popular American architectural forms, Federal style is easily recognizable due to its unique symmetrical and geometric design elements. Most structures created with Federal architecture typically stand two to three stories in height and are rectangular (sometimes square) in their shape. While the buildings normally extended two rooms in width, larger structures would usually contain several more. In some cases, circular or oval-shaped rooms functioned as the center living space. The outside façade of a Federal-style building was simplistic in appearance, although some detailed brass and iron decorations debuted. Perhaps the most common form the ornamentations assumed were elliptical figures and circular or fan-shaped motifs. Architects concentrated those features around the front entrance, where cornices, metallic molding, and a beautifully sculpted fanlight resided. (Fanlights are a regular design element for Federalist buildings, appearing in other locations throughout the top of the structure, as well). The exterior walls were mainly composed of clapboard out in the country but consisted of brick in urban areas. Palladian-themed windows proliferated throughout the façade, installed in a way that conveyed a deep sense of balance. The roofing was even hipped and contained simple gables and dormers that allowed for natural light to infiltrate the upper echelons of the structure more easily. Many Federal-style buildings still survive in the present, too, with some bearing even listings in the U.S. National Register Historic Places.

Battle of Antietam (1862): In the early dawn of September 17, 1862, Union General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac was poised to strike Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia outside of Sharpsburg, Maryland. McClellan spent the last several days chasing the Southern army through western Maryland, having been caught trying to invade Northern territory. Eager to press his advantage, McClellan ordered two Union army corps to hit the Confederate right flank through a cornfield that morning. An intense firefight then ensued for hours, with the cornfield exchanging hands more than a dozen times. Unable to break the rebel line, another U.S. Corps struck the Confederate center located within a sunken road now remembered as the “Bloody Lane.” While costly, the Union charges were on the verge of routing the whole Confederate army until an intense cannon barrage forced the Northerners to stop. McClellan launched a final assault toward Lee’s left flank, which was pinned along Antietam Creek. One of McClellan’s trusted lieutenants, General Ambrose Burnside, oversaw the attack, who in turn directed many Union regiments to repeatedly try and capture a bridge over the creek that would eventually bear his name. In truth, the attacks were designed to mask a column of federal soldiers crossing the Antietam a few miles downstream. Burnside’s men thus broke the Confederate defenses once the Union flanking formation emerged from the surrounding woods late that afternoon.

The last of its units now shattered, the Army of Northern Virginia was once again about to collapse. However, a Confederate division under the command of General A.P. Hill suddenly appeared on the horizon, having made an all-day march from its posting in West Virginia. Smashing into Burnside’s assault, the Confederate reinforcements stabilized the line and ended the battle. The fighting had proved to be catastrophic, resulting in the collective deaths of more than 3,600 American soldiers. However, another 17,000 were wounded, requiring the extensive need for medical facilities to look after their care. Communities on both sides of the Potomac River were quickly inundated with the wounded, as countless houses and businesses quickly became makeshift field hospitals. This was particularly true in neighboring Frederick, the unofficial capital for the entire region. Buildings all throughout Frederick’s landscape became refuges for combat casualties, primarily ailing Union troops. Among the many local structures to open its doors was the Visitation Academy of Frederick along East Second Street, which Union officers began referring to as “General Hospital No. 5.” Hundreds of soldiers filled the many classrooms scattered about the academy, as the spaces provided much needed sources of light and ventilation necessary for their rehabilitation. Meanwhile, army doctors worked around the clock to save lives, often conducting critical operations from inside the Visitation Academy of Frederick.

Even the Order’s nuns volunteered their services, serving diligently as orderlies or nurses for the countless number of patients huddled together on-site. But despite the harrowing ordeal, most of the wounded who sheltered within The Visitation Academy of Frederick survived. In fact, nine out of every 10 soldiers made successful recoveries over time, per statistics compiled from several historical accounts. Nevertheless, the Battle of Antietam would become notorious as the single bloodiest day during the American Civil War. Both the Union and Confederacy were incredibly hurt by the ordeal, with the Army of Northern Virginia eventually slipping back across the Potomac to recuperate. Although failing in his mission to destroy Lee’s army, McClellan had ended the threat of invasion, too. Furthermore, the Union victory provided a huge morale boost to the Northern public, who had grown sullen amid a string of Southern victories earlier that summer. But the Battle of Antietam’s greatest effect was the political power it afforded President Abraham Lincoln. Seeking to find cause to tie abolition more clearly to the greater Union war effort, the triumph ultimately emboldened Lincoln to publish the monumental Emancipation Proclamation. Declaring all slaves in the rebelling states to be free, the Emancipation Proclamation helped shift the conflict toward rebuilding the nation on the premise that “all men are created equal.”