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A+History
History · Highfield-Cascade

38% of Highfield-Cascade’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 95% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Tipahato. Below: maps from 1911 on.

1on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

About Highfield-Cascade’s history

How historic is Highfield-Cascade?

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More historic than 95% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Highfield-Cascade’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Highfield-Cascade is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Highfield-Cascade’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194038.1% of homes (±13.2) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 5 historic buildings, 45.9 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 95%
NewerOlder

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 Highfield-Cascade’s 45.9 sits above most of its state (80% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.2 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Highfield-Cascade’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Highfield-Cascade are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Highfield-Cascade, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19113 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1985. Watch Highfield-Cascade change.Old housesHalf of Highfield-Cascade’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Highfield-Cascade’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Highfield-Cascade’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Highfield, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Highfield
1890–1983
Cascade
1898–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CascadeHighfieldPen Mar ParkRowland Hill
Gone or out of use
Highfield Post Officepost office

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

On the map

Highfield-Cascade on the map, 1911 to 1985

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

Highfield-Cascade on the 1911 USGS mapHighfield-Cascade on the 1953 USGS mapHighfield-Cascade on the 1985 USGS map1911Emmitsburg 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 Highfield-Cascade.

The story so far

Highfield-Cascade, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Highfield-Cascade yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Highfield-Cascade is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The CDP is, however, more commonly referred to as just Cascade, MD. The official CDP name encompasses two closely-spaced unincorporated communities, Highfield and Cascade. The population of the CDP was 1,082 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,112 to 1,082 (-3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Highfield-Cascade, 1890 to 1983

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Highfield post office opens
  3. 1898Post officeThe Cascade post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1983Post officeThe Highfield post office closes
By decade

Highfield-Cascade, decade by decade

Today12 recent
MD 550 nb at Royer Road, July 20252025MD 550 nb at Royer Road, July 2025Hilltop Road nb entering Washington Twp., Franklin Co., PA, July 20252025Hilltop Road nb entering Washington Twp., Franklin Co…2020-06-01 16 13 20 View south along Maryland State Route 491 (MacAfee Hill Road) just south of Barrick Avenue on the e…20202020-06-01 16 13 20 View south along Maryland State R…2020-06-01 16 12 24 View south along Maryland State Route 550 (Military Road) just south of Maryland State Route 491 (M…20202020-06-01 16 12 24 View south along Maryland State R…2016-07-28 15 21 56 View north along Maryland State Route 550 (Military Road) just south of Maryland State Route 491 (M…20162016-07-28 15 21 56 View north along Maryland State R…2016-07-28 15 14 53 View south along Maryland State Route 550 (Military Road) just south of Maryland State Route 491 (M…20162016-07-28 15 14 53 View south along Maryland State R…2016-07-28 15 13 48 View south along Maryland State Route 491 (MacAfee Hill Road) just south of Barrick Avenue on the e…20162016-07-28 15 13 48 View south along Maryland State R…2016-07-28 15 12 42 View north along Maryland State Route 550 (MacAfee Hill Road) at Elhuff Court in20162016-07-28 15 12 42 View north along Maryland State R…2016-07-28 15 10 03 View south along Maryland State Route 550 (MacAfee Hill Road) at Pen Mar Road, Pennersville Road an…20162016-07-28 15 10 03 View south along Maryland State R…2016-07-28 15 09 41 View north along Maryland State Route 550 (Pen Mar Road) at MacAfee Hill Road, Pennersville Road an…20162016-07-28 15 09 41 View north along Maryland State R…2016-07-28 15 08 42 View south along Maryland State Route 550 (Pen Mar Road) at Falls Creek in20162016-07-28 15 08 42 View south along Maryland State R…MDMap-doton-Highfield-Cascade2004MDMap-doton-Highfield-Cascade
On the National Register

1 historic place in Highfield-Cascade

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
Tipahato
Tipahato
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
American Foursquare1
Late Victorian1
Queen Anne1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals1
TipahatoLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Highfield-Cascade

Nobody well known was born in Highfield-Cascade itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Wallis SimpsonAmerican socialite and wife of the Duke of Wind… · b. 1896
Ed McCaffreyAmerican football player · b. 1968
Joseph CaseyCongressman · b. 1814
Max BishopAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1899
Benjamin Franklin LeiterAmerican politician · b. 1813
John CovodeAmerican politician · b. 1808
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Fort RitchieIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSabillasville2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Highfield-Cascade’s history

How does Highfield-Cascade rank for history?

Highfield-Cascade is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns. 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 Highfield-Cascade?

One place: the Tipahato (listed 2001).

How old are the homes in Highfield-Cascade?

38% of Highfield-Cascade’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.2 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1954.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.