Smithsburg Historical Society

04/02/2026

South Mountain Mission Church

03/31/2026

See you at the next meeting!

02/28/2026

Roadside Distraction--- this is a nice conversation starter-- we know what this bit of stonework is, and where it is, and when it was built-- but what do you think it is? (or can you find a photo of another one?)

02/17/2026

It is a Maryland Superstition that if you don't eat pancakes on pancake day (Shrove Tues.) you will have no luck with chickens this year. Source: The Collection of Maryland Folklore, 1898. Has anyone heard a similar local superstition for Shrove Tuesday?

02/15/2026

Life of Peter B. Suman & the Historic Treason Incident

02/08/2026

A Pennsylvania farmer turned down millions to prevent his land from turning into a data center.

02/07/2026

Cold weather is rough on railroad tracks and on the trains-- metal contracts, the rails go out of alignment on curves, and couplings can fail. This happened on Feb. 5th 1884:

02/07/2026

A Cautionary Tale: From the Baltimore Sun, March 11, 1858. The reasons are clear why the Temperance Movement was strong in America. Stories like this were common in many communities. Ridgeville is of course, Ringgold, Maryland. Although the U.S. Post Office there was called Ringgold from as early as 1851-- there was already another Ridgeville in MD when a Mr. Besore set up a store there, so he named it after a Washington Co. hero killed in Mexican War, 1846-1848. Ringgold was known as the "father of modern artillery."

10/19/2025