the almanac A P R I L 26, 2026
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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As colonies revolted, Frederick A WHIRLWIND TOUR played role in Revolutionary War
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of 12 weekly stories focusing on America’s 250th birthday, as told through the lens of our communities and the role many of the places we call home played in shaping the nation before, during and after the Revolutionary War. This week we stop in Frederick, Md., in the 1770s, just as the colonists were preparing to revolt against the monarchy. Frederick was home to the first formal protest against the Stamp Act — a tax levied on colonists for the use of official stamped paper — and, during the war, served as a vital source of supplies for the Continental Army.
By Erik Anderson
The Frederick News-Post
The city of Frederick, Md., had a much smaller footprint in the 1770s than it does today, but played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War. In addition to being the home of founding fathers, such
as Thomas Johnson and John Hanson, it was the site of the first formal protest against the Stamp Act, a tax the colonies had to pay Britain through the use of official stamped paper. This was a key source of tension between the British Crown and settlers throughout the original 13 colonies. According to Jody Brumage, the archivist at the Heritage Frederick historical society, the fledgling town was “very much part of the early nation’s breadbasket” and that status was its main daily contribution to the war. He said that a visitor in 1776 who stood on the hill on South Market Street in downtown Frederick, near the present-day Maryland School for the Deaf, would have seen vast tracts of farmland surrounding a smalltown street grid. “A lot of the building of the town at that time would have been concentrated around Carroll Creek, around Patrick and Market streets and Church Street,” he said, “but beyond that, you would have seen a lot of empty land that had not been fully settled.” From the time of the town’s founding in the 1740s, he said, there were mills set up along Carroll Creek, and by the time of the war, many water-powered mills produced high volumes of flour. Not only was Frederick important for the volume of grain
RIC DUGAN/FREDERICK NEWS-POST
Letters written to Jacob Engelbrecht by former presidents, John Adams, left, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.
ELEANOR BAILEY
Julia Antunes, Lucy Wang and Peter Goslin flash the passports they will have stamped as they visit the countries represented at Mt. Lebanon’s first Around The World celebration. Organized by the trio as well as members of the school’s Global Studies Program and Cultures Club, the event took students, friends and family members around the world by visiting representative countries through food, dance and games.
Mt. Lebanon hosts first Around The World Night
By Eleanor Bailey RIC DUGAN/FREDERICK NEWS-POST
Re-creation of a Libert Cap mounted on a staff with inscriptions of Independence.
products it could provide to the Continental Army, he said, but its geographic location in roughly the middle of the colonies made it a key distribution hub for both the North and South. Frederick produced many other supplies for the war, as well, Brumage said. Thomas Johnson, the first elected governor of Maryland, bought many tracts of land in Frederick County in the 1770s and founded the Catoctin Furnace near Thurmont, in the northern part of the county, with his brother — in part to produce weapons and supplies for the war. The furnace was in blast by the time the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. As governor from 1777-79, Johnson was heavily involved in establishing and maintaining supply chains for the military. “We know (the furnace) supplied some Dutch ovens and some basic supplies for soldiers
and also produced cannon that was used at the Battle of Yorktown,” Amanda Venable Kramer, the museum manager of Rose Hill Manor Park and Museums, said. Johnson, who played a key role as a Maryland delegate in the negotiations leading to the Declaration of Independence, bought the land for Rose Hill Manor in 1778, Kramer said. He lived there in his older age following the mansion’s construction in the 1790s. His family likely lived in a cabin or another structure there during the war, though few records describe their time there, Kramer said. Brumage said Frederick would have been a very busy town during the 1770s. In addition to the steady flour production, it was a lively market town. At least once a week, he said, farmers would come to the city market to sell a wide range of SEE 250 PAGE A2
Cecil Township to request Georgetown Road traffic study By Conner Goetz Cecil Township is requesting support from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in determining the best way to proceed with a reduced-scope project to resolve persistent issues along Georgetown Road. The board of supervisors authorized township manager Donald Gennuso to formally contact PennDOT to request a traffic study of Georgetown Road to determine what could be done to improve the roadway in future projects during a meeting last week. The informally known “Georgetown Scalper” overpass in the 500 block of Georgetown Road close to Valley Brook Road has been the bane of dozens of truck drivers over the years, as its unusually low 11-foot clearance has led to numerous stuck semi-trucks despite ample signage. The township applied for a nearly $3 million PennDOT Multimodal Transpor-
tation Grant in fall 2025 to raise the railroad overpass above the road alongside a number of associated improvements, and was awarded $750,000 in January. Supervisor Cindy Fisher said this funding amount means that the township will have to “restructure” the project in order to make best use of the available capital. According to Fisher, the township receives regular comments from residents about traffic concerns along the roadway, calling it a “daily issue.” Fisher said the township hopes to have more information about the revised project plan available within the next few months. Gennuso said he is waiting to hear back from PennDOT on whether, and when, they could proceed with the traffic study on the road. “The study will generate a report and the results from the report will inform our next steps,” he said.
LOCATION USC qualifies for state science Olympiad PAGE A3 What’s happening, B3
FILE PHOTO
The “Georgetown Scalper” on Georgetown Road has been tough on many trucks that have become stuck in the underpass.
SPORTS Silva takes monumental steps toward goals PAGE B1 Classifieds, B4
ebailey@thealmanac.net
Jules Verne needed 80 days to travel around the world in 1872. At Mt. Lebanon, however, only two hours and 30 minutes were required. During Around The World Night held recently at Mt. Lebanon High School, the Global Studies Program in conjunction with the Cultures Club took visitors on a high-speed journey to a variety of nations represented by the student population. Guests learned about these native lands and their cultures through food samples, educational booths and entertainment, featuring music and traditional dance. “This is fantastic,” said Volker Schmid. Of German descent, Schmid had two daughters, Anika and Anisha, who participated in the event. “There were great performances. I was impressed with how incredibly talented the students are, and I was surprised by all the different nationalities here.” Schmid added that it was “great” to learn about the countries as well as sample all the treats offered by the various cultures. For a first-time event, Julia Antunes agreed the evening was a success. A junior, Antunes helped organize the function. “For an inaugural year, obviously there is a learning curve, but I think it went really, really well. People seemed very excited. I learned a lot and a lot of other people did too.” Antunes said the organizers achieved their objectives. “Essentially this was meant to be an event that connects people of multiple cultures and backgrounds for a lively night of music, diversity, and inclusion.”
Antunes is an example of Lebo’s diversity and inclusion. Her parents immigrated to America in the 2000s. Her mother is from Argentina and her father is from Brazil, but she was born in America. “I really consider myself Argentinian, Brazilian and American,” she said. “So I think this was a really great way to bring people of different backgrounds together and promote and celebrate the diversity within Mount Lebanon.” According to Julianne Slogick, who is a social studies teacher at Mt. Lebanon High School, Antunes and Peter Goslin are two of her certificate students in the Global Studies Program. Along with other members of the Global Cultures Club, Antune and Goslin wanted to bring other students in the building and the wider community together to celebrate the international community represented in the school district. “This was such an exciting evening for us,” Slogick said. “Number one, it was our first time and number two, the students involved in this have been able to test their leadership and communication skills. They’re learning how to plan and organize large projects and they have gotten to see the results of all these community members coming here and getting together.” Among some of the countries and nationalities represented included Turkey, China, Nigeria, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Mexico, Sweden and Iran. “Mt. Lebanon has a tremendous international community, and the parents are really active and interested in learning about one another,” Slogick said. See photos on A2.
SIGHTS & SOUNDS America’s 250th at Bethel Cemetery PAGE B3 Real estate transactions, A4
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