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History · Accident

Accident dates to 1786, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the James Drane House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.

1786founded
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Accident began

When was Accident founded?

1786

Accident dates its founding to 1786 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 114 in 18802020 census: 338240 years
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓

What stands out about Accident’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1981. Watch Accident change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1786: 240 years of Accident.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Accident’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Accident’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Accident on the map, 1900 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Accident. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Accident on the 1900 USGS mapAccident on the 1948 USGS mapAccident on the 1974 USGS mapAccident on the 1981 USGS map1900Accident sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Accident.

Timeline

Accident, 1786 to 1900

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1786
    FoundingAccident is established
  3. 1787In the archiveAccident detail deakins 1787 02
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Accident came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Accident.

Read it all →

Accident was one of the early settlements in the far west of Maryland. The name originates about the time of the 1786 land survey. Though the origin or meaning of the name is obscure, one popular story says that Brooke Beall and William Deakins, Jr., friends from Prince George's County, were conducting separate surveys in the area at the time and "by accident" Deakins claimed land already surveyed by Beall.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Accident, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1780s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1780s1 item
Accident detail deakins 1787 021787Accident detail deakins 1787 02Document
Today2 recent
James Drane House, Accident, Maryland. 31 Oct 242024James Drane House, Accident, Maryland. 31 Oct 24JamesDraneHouse20122012JamesDraneHouse2012
On the National Register

1 historic place in Accident

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
James Drane House
James Drane House
Buildings
James Drane HouseBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Accident, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 353

Between 114 and 353 people in every census since 1880.

10 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Accident’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Accident’s history

What year was Accident founded?

In 1786, according to Wikidata. the census of 1880 counted 114 people here.

What is on the National Register in Accident?

One place: the James Drane House (listed 1985).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.