Fort Frederick State Park

gregs@herald-mail.com BIG POOL - The smell of animal skin, burning pipe tobacco and possibly bare feet normally may have turned away more than a few customers, but Ernie Marvin had a steady flow of prospective buyers Friday morning. Marvin was selling animal pelts of all shapes, sizes and cuts at the 10th annual 18th Century Market Fair at Fort Frederick State Park. Underneath a tent and with nothing between his feet and the bare earth but a few blades of grass, Marvin puffed a pipe as he explained what brought him to the event from Michigan.

andrear@herald-mail.com Two Tri-State area forts will open their gates to traders, trappers, soldiers and civilians during 18th-century market fair celebrations today through Sunday. Historically, the market fair was a few-day-long gathering to trade, buy and sell crafts, furs, produce, clothing, fabric and other supplies needed for the year to come. Participants also showcased their frontier and shooting skills, swapped tales of adventure and shared news from the Colonies, according to information from the Great North American Rendezvous Web site at www.gnarendezvous.

dank@herald-mail.com Frank Davis wasn't wearing any pants, and Leon Salisbury wore a wolf's-head hat, but it was the few people in so-called normal clothes who seemed out of place at Fort Frederick State Park on Thursday. Davis and Salisbury were among the hundreds of people in "period" dress at the park for the first day of the Eighth annual Market Fair and Rifle Frolic, which runs through Sunday. Instead of pants, Davis was wearing leather leggings and a cloth called a breech clout, which he described as Indian-style clothing from the 1750s.

katec@herald-mail.com BIG POOL - Fort Frederick has Friends. Yes, that's "Friends" with a capital F. The mission of the independent, nonprofit group, one of the oldest of such organizations in Maryland, is to enhance and support state parks. The Friends of Fort Frederick also have friends - the Patuxents, the 40-member group sponsoring the eighth annual Market Fair and Rifle Frolic at the state park this weekend. Although there will be some black powder shooting and target practice, the weekend is not a battle re-enactment.

Re-enactors at Fort Frederick travel back in time By TARA REILLY tarar@herald-mail.com Joshua Wismer pulls Brigid and Erin McMenamin across the grass Thursday at Markey Fair at Fort Frederick. They came from Bucks County, Pa. Re-enactors from across the country set up tents as the four-day event got under way. Men in breeches and stockings and women in ankle-length wool skirts line up at a small tavern waiting for gobblers knob turkey stew and Aunt Toot's Garrison Holler Vegetable Soup.

Taking a field trip to Fort Frederick State Park By KERRI SACCHET / Staff Writer photo: JOE CROCETTA / staff photographer Editor's Note : We asked our student interns this summer to take a look at Washington County attractions with a tourist's eyes. Through their reports, we hope you might rediscover attractions in our own back yard. This is the fifth in a series. BIG POOL - Rich, green pine trees dot the sides of the road that lead to a quaint fort with four, 120-foot-long walls.

BIG POOL - The Maryland Department of Natural Resources State Forest and Park Service and Fort Frederick State Park will host the sixth annual Market Fair and Rifle Frolic next Thursday, April 27, through Sunday, April 30. The event is sponsored by the Patuxents for the Friends of Fort Frederick State Park Inc. It offers visitors an opportunity to experience life as it was on the frontier from 1640 through 1840 and witness artisans, craftsmen and...

BIG POOL - Fort Frederick State Park in Washington County will be closed for regular public use Tuesday and Wednesday while a biological managed deer hunt is conducted on park property. The purpose of the hunt is to help control the overpopulated deer herd at Fort Frederick. By closing the two days during the hunt, the staff will be able to utilize additional areas for the managed hunt and maintain safety. Under the Maryland Department of Natural Resources managed deer hunt program, hunters who were previously selected by a drawing, are placed at predetermined shooting zones by DNR rangers and park personnel.

In a unanimous vote, the Washington County Commissioners voted Tuesday to give $10,000 to help pay for a weekend of festivities to celebrate Fort Frederick's 250th anniversary. "I firmly believe we need to be supportive of those things that do bring people into the county," Commissioner Doris J. Nipps said. The anniversary, featuring reenactments and period entertainers, is May 26 to 28, according to the Friends of Fort Frederick State Park Inc. Web site.

Volunteers eager to unearth a piece of history may get a chance at Fort Frederick State Park this fall. Researchers is September will begin an excavation they hope will unearth 18th-century artifacts and help them understand the stone fort's original construction. Volunteers are needed to help dig, sift, screen and wash objects discovered. "We will accept people with any level of experience or none," said Varna Boyd, the project's chief archaeologist. The state put the project out to bid and awarded the contract to Greenhorne and O'Mara, Inc. of Greenbelt, Md. The firm is already researching archives around the world, according to Park Manager Ralph Young.