More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #135 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Damascus was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 2000.
The Damascus post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Woodfield (1885) and Kings Valley (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 11,430 in 20002020 census: 17,224210 years
How historic is Damascus?
C
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Damascus post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Damascus’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Damascus is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #135 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Damascus’ overall grade.
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 Damascus’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Damascus’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area currently known as Damascus was granted by the new U.S. state of Maryland to Nathaniel Pigman in 1783. On February 14, 1819, War of 1812 veteran Edward Hughes bought a 40-acre (160,000 m2) section of the grant and began subdividing lots for sale. James Madison, the fourth U.S. president, appointed Hughes postmaster of the developing community of Damascus in 1816. Hughes received permission from Congress for a postal route through the town. Hughes called his town "The Pleasant Plains of Damascus". A newspaper in Frederick wrote of Hughes's growing town: "There is at this place an extensive opening for mechanics of all the different kinds, and it bids fair to improve very fast; ... There is at present two blacksmith shops, a saddler's shop and a store in the place -- a tailor, a wheel wright, and a shoemaker are much wanted, and would meet with great encouragement." This was the…
Passages that mention Damascus, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Montgomery county, Maryland, from its earliest settlement in 1650 to 1879 ..1879 · page 47Read the page →
Read the text
Very Good, granted to John Dickinson in 1755; and Bite the Biter, granted to Samuel Saffell, in 1 75G, are both near the village of Damascus. Silent Valley, granted to Ellsworth Beane in 17.~>t;, lies east of Damascus.
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
Damascus, 1816 to 2001
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Damascus post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Damascus rank for history?
Damascus is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #135 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.
How old are the homes in Damascus?
2% of Damascus’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (18), 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 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.
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