Hagerstown, Maryland

Hagerstown /ˈheɪɡərztaʊn/ is a city in Washington County, Maryland. It is the county seat of Washington County, and by many definitions, the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland (excluding adjacent Frederick County). The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2010 census was 39,662, and the population of the Hagerstown-Martinsburg Metropolitan Area (extending into West Virginia) was 269,140. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's sixth largest incorporated city.

Hagerstown has a distinct topography, formed by stone ridges running from northeast to southwest through the center of town. Geography accordingly bounds its neighborhoods. These ridges consist of upper Stonehenge limestone. Many of the older buildings were built from this stone, which is easily quarried and dressed onsite. It whitens in weathering and the edgewise conglomerate and wavy laminae become distinctly visible, giving a handsome and uniquely “Cumberland Valley” appearance. Several of Hagerstown’s churches are constructed of Stonehenge limestone and its value and beauty as building rock many be seen particularly in St. John’s Episcopal Church on West Antietam Street and the Presbyterian Church at the corner of Washington and Prospect Streets. Brick and concrete eventually displaced this native stone in the construction process.