Gapland, Maryland

Gathland State Park is a public recreation area and historic preserve located on South Mountain near Burkittsville, Maryland, in the United States. The state park occupies the former estate of war correspondent George Alfred Townsend (1841-1914), who wrote under the pen name "Gath" during the American Civil War. The estate's few remaining original structures include the War Correspondents Memorial Arch, which sits alongside the Appalachian Trail. The park is operated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The arch is a National Historic Monument maintained by the National Park Service.

The Battle of Crampton's Gap, or Battle of Burkittsville, was a battle fought between forces under Confederate Brig. Gen. Howell Cobb and Union Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin as part of the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, 1862, at Crampton's Gap in Western Maryland, during the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Franklin's VI Corps attacked a small, hastily assembled Confederate force at Crampton's Gap in South Mountain that sought to protect the rear of Confederate Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws, who was across Pleasant Valley on Maryland Heights taking part in the siege of Harpers Ferry. Despite inferior numbers, the Confederate force held out throughout the day, taking heavy casualties. By the evening the VI Corps broke the Confederate line and proceeded through the gap into Pleasant Valley. Franklin, however, failed to follow up on his success and did not attack McLaws on Maryland Heights. Tactically the battle resulted in a Union victory because they broke the Confederate line and drove through the gap. Strategically, the Confederates were successful in stalling the Union advance and were able to protect McLaws' rear.

The Crampton's Gap Historic District comprises the battlefield where the American Civil War Battle of Crampton's Gap, part of the larger Battle of South Mountain, took place on September 14, 1862. The district extends on the west to the foot of South Mountain, and to the east of Burkittsville, beyond the eastern foot of the mountain. The district is characterized by steep mountain terrain in the west and open farmland in the east, with the small town of Burkittsville in the center, which is itself listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. The district extends to the south to include Brownsville Gap. The district includes 98 contributing buildings, 78 of which are in the Burkittsville Historic District. Crampton's Gap at the crest of the mountain is encompassed by Gathland State Park, which features the War Correspondents Memorial Arch, erected in 1896 to memorialize journalists killed in wartime. The arch is listed on the National Register as part of Antietam National Battlefield. The mountainous portions of the district feature numerous stone walls, which were used by both sides for shelter against gunfire during the battle.The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 12, 2011.

Brownsville (also Banjotown) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Washington County, Maryland, United States, near Gapland in an area known as Pleasant Valley. Its population was 89 as of the 2010 census.

The National War Correspondents Memorial, part of Gathland State Park, is a memorial dedicated to journalists who died in war. It is located at Crampton's Gap at South Mountain, near Burkittsville, Maryland, in the United States. Civil War correspondent George Alfred Townsend, or "Gath", built the arch in 1896, and it was dedicated October 16, 1896.It is claimed that the arch is the only monument in the world dedicated to journalists killed in combat. However, a tree in Arlington National Cemetery was also dedicated as a war correspondents' memorial in 1986.

Crampton's Gap, also known as Crampton Gap, is a wind gap on South Mountain in Maryland. The 928 feet (283 m) gap connects Burkittsville in the Middletown Valley to the east with Gapland and Rohrersville in the Pleasant Valley to the west. Documentation of the earliest land tracts in the Crampton's Gap area and records related to the earliest road may be found in The Land Tracts of the Battlefield of South Mountain by Curtis L. Older.The gap is the location of Gathland State Park and was the site of the Battle of Crampton's Gap on September 14, 1862, during the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War.

Trego-Rohrersville Station is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Washington County, Maryland, United States. Its population was 160 as of the 2020 census.

Elk Ridge, or Elk Mountain, is a mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Maryland and is the westernmost of four parallel ridges. It forms the western side of a narrow valley in which are situated the towns of Yarrowsburg and Brownsville. South Mountain is on the eastern side of this valley running roughly parallel to it. The ridge runs from Rohrersville, in the north, to the Potomac River across from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in the south. Across the Potomac the ridge continues as Blue Ridge Mountain in Virginia and West Virginia. To the west of Elk Mountain is the broader Cumberland Valley, in which lie the towns of Hagerstown and Chambersburg, and the Potomac River. The southern end of the ridge, which is part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, is known as Maryland Heights.

The Burkittsville Historic District comprises the small town of Burkittsville, Maryland. Located at a crossroads in western Frederick County, the town is a consistent collection of early 19th-century Federal style houses mixed with a few Victorian style houses that has remained virtually unchanged since 1900. The town is surrounded on three sides by an open, farmed landscape, and nestles against South Mountain on its western side.The town was involved in a number of Civil War actions, including the Battle of Crampton's Gap in 1862. The Burkittsville Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Burkittsville is a historic village in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The village lies in the southern Middletown Valley along the eastern base of South Mountain. Burkittsville is a residential area with an economy based in agriculture and tourism. The village was the scene of the Battle of Crampton's Gap, part of the Battle of South Mountain during the Maryland Campaign of the Civil War on September 14, 1862. Burkittsville was also made a subject of national attention when it was used as the setting of the 1999 horror film The Blair Witch Project. Nearby attractions include the Gathland State Park and the Appalachian Trail. The population was 151 as of the 2010 census.

Rohrersville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 175 at the 2010 census.

Yarrowsburg is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Washington County, Maryland, United States. Its population was 133 as of the 2010 census.