Sharpsburg dates to 1763, and 72% of its homes were built before 1940
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Tolson's Chapel and School, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 570 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1884 on and the census since 1870.
The first American of European descent to own land in what would become Sharpsburg was trader Edmund Cartledge. By the time Cartledge surveyed his "Hickory Tavern" land tract in 1737, the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road was established over the path that would become Sharpsburg's main street. The patent says Hickory Tavern sits between the wagon road and Garrison Spring, today's Big Spring. Thousands of immigrants used this route to travel south from Pennsylvania as far as the Carolinas.
Passages that mention Sharpsburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown1906 · page 355Read the page →
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Heights. On July 5 Gen. Gordon’s division crossed the Potomac at Boteler’s ford near Shepherdstown and encamped on the Antietam near its mouth. Gen. Vaughn marched to Sharpsburg. McCausland also crossed at Shepherdstown and went to Sharpsburg while a detachment of cavalry went on to Boonsboro, six miles from Sharpsburg and thence across South Mountain into Frederick
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A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown1906 · page 132Read the page →
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On the last day of 1803, George Carey’s barn and stable at the cross roads, four miles from Sharpsburg, were burned and Whilst the fire, Which was incendiary, was raging, the store house of Carey & Zeigler near by was entered and rob¬ bed of $1,800 in money. Two negroes belonging to Benjamin Tyson, of Sharpsburg, were arrested for the crime and $1,500 of the money recovered.
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
Sharpsburg, 1763 to 2021
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Sharpsburg’s post office has been open since 1792.
Gone or out of use
First Methodist Churchchurch
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sharpsburg
First MethodistSharpsburg Reformed
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Sharpsburg’s history
What year was Sharpsburg founded?
In 1763, according to Wikidata. Sharpsburg’s post office opened in 1792, and the census of 1870 counted 1,001 people here.
What is on the National Register in Sharpsburg?
10 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Tolson's Chapel and School (a National Historic Landmark since 2021), and 2 historic districts, the Antietam National Battlefield and the Sharpsburg Historic District, with 570 contributing buildings. 584 historic buildings in all.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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.
★ Landmark
