Yarrowsburg sits at the foot of Elk Ridge mountain on the west side of Pleasant Valley, stretching along Reed, Kaetzel and Yarrowsburg roads in southeastern Washington County. Until the late 19th century, Elk Ridge was wholly owned by the Antietam Iron Works. The forest was used as fuel for the furnace and forges after being converted to charcoal. After being harvested and especially after the iron works went bankrupt in the 1850s, the mountain land was sold off in multi-acre lots. Many of the properties in Yarrowsburg are on former iron works property. The village is named for Aquila and Polly Yarrow, free African Americans who bought a small log house on 1 1/4 acres of land in the southeast corner of Yarrowsburg and Reed roads in 1825. The Yarrows were one of several free black families living in Yarrowsburg at the time. It is thought that Aquila worked as a collier for the iron works…
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 (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
2014
