Monocacy National Battlefield

Monocacy National Battlefield will host a Junior Ranger Weekend Saturday, June 2, and Sunday, June 3. Those participating can become a soldier, either Confederate or Union, and trace the footsteps of soldiers that fought at the Battle of Monocacy. Costumed living historians will muster participants into the military, offer a hands-on camp of instruction, and insight into a soldier's life on campaign. Events will begin at 9 a.m. each day and end at 3:30 p.m. Registration is not required and the event is free.

Free photography workshop at Monocacy National Battlefield FREDERICK, Md. - There will be a photography workshop for high school and college students Saturday, April 7, and Sunday, April 8, at 11 a.m. at Monocacy National Battlefield on Md. 355. Photographer Eric Long from the Smithsonian Institution, and Charles Lyons, photography teacher from Linganore High School in Frederick, will offer guidance, tips and techniques for creating better...

People of all ages are invited to Monocacy National Battlefield at noon Friday, Feb. 11, to help set a new Guinness World Record as part of the national commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial. On Feb. 11, 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln began his inaugural journey to Washington, D.C. He gave what has been known as "Lincoln's Farewell Address" at the Great Western Railroad Depot. This year, thousands will gather at the depot and other venues around the world for a reading of the Lincoln's speech.

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- A state Senate committee has rejected a bill that would have blocked construction of a proposed trash incinerator near a Civil War battlefield just south of Frederick. The action effectively kills an effort by local Republican Sen. Alex Mooney to prevent Frederick County from building a $527 million incinerator in an industrial park near the Monocacy National Battlefield. The incinerator would burn trash from Frederick and Carroll counties to generate electricity and conserve landfill space.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- A state senator is redoubling his efforts to block construction of a large-scale trash incinerator near Frederick. Alex X. Mooney, R-Frederick/Washington, introduced a bill in the General Assembly on Wednesday that would limit such projects to land zoned for heavy industry more than three miles from homes, churches, parks or hospitals. Last month, Mooney sponsored a bill to prohibit incinerators within a mile of national parks. Both measures are aimed at blocking a $527 million incinerator that Frederick and Carroll counties are considering building near the Monocacy National Battlefield to conserve landfill space and generate electricity.

Antietam National Battlefield's fiscal 1999 budget includes $4.5 million in federal funds for restoration and land acquisition, according to Superintendent John W. Howard. [cont. from front page ] The battlefield will use $2.6 million to restore the Otto, Sherrick and Mumma farms, owned by the park. For the first time in eight years, Congress also gave Antietam money for land acquisition: $1.9 million. Howard said he is negotiating sales with two property owners.

Pioneer America Society: Association for the Preservation of Artifacts and Landscapes is holding its 39th annual meeting in Hagerstown, Oct. 10-13. Approximately 70 people from across the United States are expected to attend. Pioneer America Society is a national, nonprofit organization that encourages the study of preservation of buildings, sites, structures and objects representing North American history, cultural landscapes and material culture. The society was organized in 1967 and carries out its mission by identifying, documenting, analyzing, and interpreting significant cultural landscapes, architecture and artifacts and by encouraging educational programs, scholarly research and preservation.

Editor's note - There are a lot of people you see around town that you recognize, but don't know anything about. People like... Cathy Beeler Age - 53. Occupation - Chief of Resource Education and Visitor Services at Monocacy National Battlefield. Hometown - Sharpsburg. Where would you see Beeler? - Cathy Beeler thought her degree in elementary education would take her to the classroom, but instead, her classroom is Monocacy National Battlefield in Frederick, Md. Beeler heads up a staff of 15 at the Civil War battlefield.

photo: MIKE CRUPI / staff photographer enlarge By CLYDE FORD / Staff Writer FREDERICK, Md. - At 11 years old, Jacob Rosenthal seems rather small to be a Civil War veteran. But the Union-uniformed youngster has been at re-enactment camps since he was 1 year old. "As soon as he got out of diapers, we started bringing him," said his father, Glenn Rosenthal, of Middletown, Md. The role of women and children in Frederick during the Civil War is being featured this weekend at the 134th commemoration activities at Monocacy National Battlefield.

By KAREN MASTERSON Staff Writer Last week, a Vermont family packed up memorabilia of a great-great-great grandfather who won a Medal of Honor for his valor in a battle some historians say helped save Washington, D.C., from falling to the Confederate army. They drove the Civil War items - including brass buttons, epaulettes, a Greek cross pin, 19th-century photos, a Union army-issued blanket and handwritten notes - to Monocacy National Battlefield Thursday and donated them to the museum there.

Monocacy National Battlefield will host a Junior Ranger Weekend Saturday, June 2, and Sunday, June 3. Those participating can become a soldier, either Confederate or Union, and trace the footsteps of soldiers that fought at the Battle of Monocacy. Costumed living historians will muster participants into the military, offer a hands-on camp of instruction, and insight into a soldier's life on campaign. Events will begin at 9 a.m. each day and end at 3:30 p.m. Registration is not required and the event is free.

Susan Trail, a former assistant superintendent at Antietam National Battlefield, has been named the national park's new superintendent, according to a news release from the National Park Service. Trail, who has served for the past eight years as superintendent of Monocacy National Battlefield, south of Frederick, Md., will start her new job on Nov. 21, according to the news release. Ed Wenschhof has been serving as acting superintendent since John Howard retired as superintendent at the end of 2010.

People of all ages are invited to Monocacy National Battlefield at noon Friday, Feb. 11, to help set a new Guinness World Record as part of the national commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial. On Feb. 11, 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln began his inaugural journey to Washington, D.C. He gave what has been known as "Lincoln's Farewell Address" at the Great Western Railroad Depot. This year, thousands will gather at the depot and other venues around the world for a reading of the Lincoln's speech.

Washington County could send some of its garbage for incineration in a regional waste-to-energy facility under development in Frederick County, officials from both counties have said. The Washington County Commissioners voted unanimously last week to send a letter to Frederick County expressing their interest in a potential partnership. Frederick and Carroll counties are funding the construction of the 1,500 ton-per-day waste-to-energy facility, commonly known as an incinerator, which will be owned by the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority.

CLEAR SPRING -- Michael J. Varhola was in town Sunday, offering up some creepy tales fitting for the Halloween season. Varhola studies ghosts and has released a book about the paranormal in the Old Line State. In "Ghosthunting Maryland," Varhola divides the state into six regions and profiles the best destinations in each, according to Amazon.com. Varhola came to the Washington County Free Library's Leonard P. Snyder Memorial Branch in Clear Spring Sunday afternoon to relate to about a dozen people some tales of the spooky, including a trip he made to Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Md., in May. The Battle of Monocacy was fought July 9, 1864, and pitted about 5,800 Union soldiers against 15,000 Confederates advancing on Washington, D.C., through Frederick County, Md. Varhola, a freelance writer who obtained a journalism degree from University of Maryland, College Park, in 1993, said he went to the battlefield with members of the Maryland TriState Paranormal group.

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- A state Senate committee has rejected a bill that would have blocked construction of a proposed trash incinerator near a Civil War battlefield just south of Frederick. The action effectively kills an effort by local Republican Sen. Alex Mooney to prevent Frederick County from building a $527 million incinerator in an industrial park near the Monocacy National Battlefield. The incinerator would burn trash from Frederick and Carroll counties to generate electricity and conserve landfill space.

MARYLAND -- Maryland is represented twice on a new list of Civil War battle sites said to be vulnerable to development. The Civil War Preservation Trust's 2009 list, released Wednesday, includes Monocacy National Battlefield in Frederick County, Md., and South Mountain Battlefield, where Frederick and Washington counties meet. Each year, the trust, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization, publicizes which historic Civil War sites are not protected. Dominion Transmission, an energy company, has expressed interest in building a $55 million natural gas compression station around South Mountain, according to the trust's list.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- A state senator is redoubling his efforts to block construction of a large-scale trash incinerator near Frederick. Alex X. Mooney, R-Frederick/Washington, introduced a bill in the General Assembly on Wednesday that would limit such projects to land zoned for heavy industry more than three miles from homes, churches, parks or hospitals. Last month, Mooney sponsored a bill to prohibit incinerators within a mile of national parks. Both measures are aimed at blocking a $527 million incinerator that Frederick and Carroll counties are considering building near the Monocacy National Battlefield to conserve landfill space and generate electricity.

FREDERICK, Md. -- The National Park Service said Monday that holes at Monocacy National Battlefield in Frederick last month were dug by looters. Rangers found the holes on Feb. 15 "while patrolling a section of the park that is inaccessible to visitors," the National Park Service said in a news release. Travis Baker, a Monocacy park ranger, said in a phone interview that a "few" holes were found, but declined to say how many. He said the holes can be established as the work of looters because they're in an area where a battle was held.

Pioneer America Society: Association for the Preservation of Artifacts and Landscapes is holding its 39th annual meeting in Hagerstown, Oct. 10-13. Approximately 70 people from across the United States are expected to attend. Pioneer America Society is a national, nonprofit organization that encourages the study of preservation of buildings, sites, structures and objects representing North American history, cultural landscapes and material culture. The society was organized in 1967 and carries out its mission by identifying, documenting, analyzing, and interpreting significant cultural landscapes, architecture and artifacts and by encouraging educational programs, scholarly research and preservation.