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AHistory
History · Boonsboro

Boonsboro dates to 1792, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #15 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 544 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1850.

1792founded
3on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Boonsboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Boonsboro began

When was Boonsboro founded?

1792

Boonsboro dates its founding to 1792 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 943 in 18502020 census: 3,799234 years

How historic is Boonsboro?

A

More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1801.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Boonsboro’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Boonsboro is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #15 of 261 in Maryland. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Boonsboro’s overall grade.
Founding era1792, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194019.3% of homes (±9.6) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register3 listings, 545 historic buildings, 1,431 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 93%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 95%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Boonsboro’s 1,431 sits above most of its state (98% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 545 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.6 points). Two sources give 1792.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Boonsboro’s past

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

A historic districtThe Boonsboro Historic District takes in 544 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Boonsboro, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 545 historic buildings

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
545
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Washington Monument
Washington Monument, built 1827Bowman HouseBoonsboro Historic District
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Log1
Early Republic1
Federal1
Hewn Log Settlement House1
Late Victorian1
Queen Anne1
Washington MonumentBuilt 1827
Bowman HouseLog
Boonsboro Historic DistrictEarly Republic

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

Help out

Start Boonsboro’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSign near Boonsboro, Maryland: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Boonsboro, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0001850190019502000943 in 1850Low: 350

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

The story

How Boonsboro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Boonsboro.

Read it all →

Local lore asserts Boonsboro was founded by George Boone, a cousin of Daniel Boone, and was originally named "Margaretsville" after his wife, Margaret. The town was incorporated as Boonesborough in 1831. Local newspapers and villagers preferred the name Boonsboro. The former name was used on some documents as late as 1903.

Boonsboro was a key town during the American Civil War. Two battles were fought in its present borders. The town was also used to keep wounded soldiers after the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. Southeast of the town was the site of the Battle of South Mountain.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Boonsboro in 1906

Passages that mention Boonsboro, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Rev. L. A. Brunner, who in 1858 delivered a series of lectures which were published in the Boonsboro Odd Fellow in 1861, and were afterwards condensed, and published in the Boonsboro Times in 1891, says that the congregation was distinctly Reformed, and that the church was built of logs, about 175:…
A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown1906 · page 472Read the page →
Read the text

Rev. L. A. Brunner, who in 1858 delivered a series of lectures which were published in the Boonsboro Odd Fellow in 1861, and were afterwards condensed, and published in the Boonsboro Times in 1891, says that the congregation was distinctly Reformed, and that the church was built of logs, about 175:0, The first preaching in the town of Boonsboro

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Boonsboro, 1792 to 2020

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1792
    FoundingBoonsboro is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1801Post officeThe Boonesburg post office opens
  5. 1809Post officeThe Boonesburg post office closes
  6. 1809Post officeThe Boonsboro post office opens
  7. 1827BuiltWashington Monument is built
  8. 1890Born hereJohn Wilson is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1939In the archiveSign near Boonsboro, Maryland
  11. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 21st century
  13. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 3,799
By decade

Boonsboro, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s3 items
Sign near Boonsboro, Maryland1939Sign near Boonsboro, MarylandHouse1939HouseFront door1939Front door
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today15 recent
Keuffner Farm Boonsboro MD12025Keuffner Farm Boonsboro MD1Boonsboro, MD Bible Church, July 20252025Boonsboro, MD Bible Church, July 2025Old National Pike Boonsboro MD12024Old National Pike Boonsboro MD1211 Potomac Street Boonsboro MD12024211 Potomac Street Boonsboro MD1Keedy House, bank house2015Keedy House, bank houseBoonsboro liquor sign MD12013Boonsboro liquor sign MD1Http-www.dnr.state.md.us-publiclands-western-greenbrier.asp2011Http-www.dnr.state.md.us-publiclands-western-greenbri…8082 Cemetery, St. Marks Episcopal Church20118082 Cemetery, St. Marks Episcopal Church8081 Cemetery, St. Marks Episcopal Church20118081 Cemetery, St. Marks Episcopal ChurchKeedy House2009Keedy HouseDowntown2009DowntownBowman House2009Bowman HouseGreenbrier UCI Challenge mtn bike race start2007Greenbrier UCI Challenge mtn bike race startKeedy House, front2006Keedy House, frontMDMap-doton-Boonsboro2004MDMap-doton-Boonsboro
On the map

Boonsboro on the map, 1944 to 1985

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

Boonsboro on the 1944 USGS mapBoonsboro on the 1953 USGS mapBoonsboro on the 1971 USGS mapBoonsboro on the 1985 USGS map1944Funkstown sheet · 1:31,680

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

Every building

Boonsboro, building by building, 1897–1910

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Boonsboro fire insurance map, 1897, sheet 11897Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Sign near Boonsboro, Maryland
Retake this viewSign near Boonsboro, Maryland, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Boonsboro’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Boonsboro’s post office has been open since 1809. Another post office, Boonesburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Boonesburg
1801–1809
Boonsboro
1809–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CrestviewGreystone HillsKinsey Heights
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Boonsboro
BoonsboroTrinity Reformed United Church of Christ

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Boonsboro’s history

What year was Boonsboro founded?

In 1792, according to Wikidata. Boonsboro’s post office opened in 1801, and the census of 1850 counted 943 people here.

How does Boonsboro rank for history?

Boonsboro is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #15 of 261 in Maryland. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Boonsboro?

Three places: the Washington Monument (listed 1972), the Bowman House (1977) and the Boonsboro Historic District (2005).

How old are the homes in Boonsboro?

19% of Boonsboro’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.6 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1966.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (15), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.