Middletown Daily Photo: Church Garden

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Church Garden

I've walked past this dozens of times and finally decided to walk into it recently. It is a peaceful place next to Mt. Zion Church on Main Street. I am not religious but I do appreciate a place set aside for contemplation and meditation.

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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.