Middletown Daily Photo: Waiting for Halloween

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Waiting for Halloween

3 comments:

Hilda said...: Halloween or a financial reprieve?

(Sorry, I couldn't help but notice the sign!); October 20, 2008 at 5:19 AM
Tiffany said...: Bernie,
Andrew & I are thinking of taking our kids up and down Main Street to photograph all the great scarecows that have taken over the town. We did a similar trip with all the Keys in Frederick last summer.; October 22, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Bernie said...: Hilda - yes, that is a pretty funny combination.

Tiffany - I love the scarecrows. I'll have pictures of some of them on this site in a few days.; October 22, 2008 at 11:03 PM

About Middletown

Middletown, Maryland was founded in 1767 and is said to be named either for its position midway between South Mountain and the Catoctin Mountains or its central location between the larger Maryland cities of Frederick and Hagerstown. A few years earlier, a visiting surveyor and future “Father of our Country” George Washington referred to Middletown Valley as one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen.

The town was incorporated in 1833. After the Civil War battles of South Mountain and Antietam, Middletown churches served as hospitals for both Union and Confederate soldiers.

Today Middletown boasts a delicate balance of old and new. Instead of a Mayor, the town leader is a Burgess. Some of the buildings were built in the 1700s and 1800s. There are large Victorian homes as well as the typical cookie-cutter subdivisions that dot the edge of the Washington DC commuter exurbs.

The only franchise restaurant in town is a Subway; the only Starbucks is inside the Safeway.

If you really want to understand what small-town America feels like, visit Middletown during the Independence Day festivities and fireworks at Middletown Park, the Volunteer Fire Department’s annual mid-July Carnival or the Middletown Heritage Festival held in the fall.