Washington County, MD, Historical Society

11/02/2026

As we are looking back at our Spirits & Spirits at Springfield Manor fundraiser, we would like to thank all of the local businesses and organizations that contributed to our wonderful raffle baskets! Thank you for supporting our fundraiser so that some of our attendees could take home some great products and future experiences!

Thank you to:
👻Pathfinder Farm Distillery
👻Marcos NY Pizza Williamsport
👻Tony's Pizza and Italian Restaurant
👻River Bottom Roasters
👻Tree Trekkers
👻Antietam Creek Vineyards
👻Sanders Honey Hole
👻Washington County Chamber of Commerce
👻Washington County Government - Maryland

Many thanks to WCHS Events Coordinator Crystal Rice for organizing and bringing together such wonderful raffle baskets. Photographs taken by Justin Artz Media.

11/02/2026

As we look back at Spirits & Spirits at Springfield Manor, we would like to thank the wonderful food and drink sponsors who made Spirits & Spirits so special through sponsorships or in-kind donations!

👻 Pathfinder Farm Distillery for sponsoring drinks, providing delicious Boozy Butterbeer cocktails, and to the wonderful Brittany and Ashley for bartending!

👻 Ed's Third Base for sponsoring drinks and to the wonderful Amber Moxley for bartending!

👻 Sweet Notes Bakery for providing delicious desserts!

👻 Homewood Living Williamsport for sponsoring food provided by Tara's Table.

👻 Ruth's Market, Cushwa Brewing Company, and Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc., for providing in-kind donations towards our fundraiser.

👻 WCHS Board Member Elizabeth Paul for bartending and WCHS Staff Crystal Rice and Jean Conte for supporting the manor house and distillery bar areas.

Who knew (fictional) murder mysteries could be so delicious?

Photographs taken by Justin Artz Media

11/01/2026

Thank you to our Actor Sponsors and our Sign Sponsors who brought Spirits & Spirits to life at the lovely Springfield Farm in Williamsport.

Thank you to our Actor Sponsors:
👻 The Hershey Group at RBC Wealth Management for sponsoring Colonel John Stull
👻 Fulton Bank, Hagerstown Branch, for sponsoring Mercy (Williams) Ross Stull
👻 Ellsworth Electric, Inc., for sponsoring Mr. John Minor
👻 Callas Contractors, LLC for sponsoring Brigadier General Otho Holland Williams

Thank you to our Sign Sponsors:
👻 The Grille at Runways
👻 Blue Ridge Risk Partners, Hagerstown Branch
👻 Kane & Stone, Attorneys at Law
👻 SEK, CPAs & Advisors, Hagerstown Branch

And many thanks to Tri-State Printing for printing our Spirits & Spirits signs and tote bags! Photos by Justin Artz Media.

And many, many thanks to the actors from A.C.T who brought the characters from our event's murder mystery, "The Murder of Robert Reynolds," to life!

11/01/2026

👻 Over the next few days, the WCHS would like to thank our amazing Spirits & Spirits sponsors who made our fundraiser at Springfield Manor such a wonderful event. Our fundraiser would not have been possible without their generosity and support!

This morning we would like to thank our main event sponsors and partners who made Spirits & Spirits at Springfield Manor a successful fundraiser! 👻

With immense gratitude, we would like to thank:

👻 Town of Williamsport MD

👻 Edward Jones - Financial Advisor: Brian Yurek

👻 The James & Mary Schurz Foundation

👻 Visit Hagerstown-Washington County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB)

And thank you to the WCHS Board Members, Staff, and Volunteers who made this event possible, and to everyone who attended! Photos by Justin Artz Media.

10/31/2026

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween from the Washington County Historical Society! What are your Halloween plans for this weekend? If you're looking for something festive to do, check out the 99th Alsatia Mummers' Parade taking place tonight at 6:00 PM in downtown Hagerstown. See the Alsatia Club's website for more details at https://www.alsatiaclubinc.com/event/99th-alsatia-mummers-parade/.

We hope you all have a wonderful and safe (and perhaps a little spooky) Halloween weekend.

10/30/2026

10/30/2026

👻 Tis the day before Halloween, and we would like to share with you a special piece of Victorian hair art found in the WCHS Collection! 👻

Victorian hair art was a craft and skill that involved weaving, braiding, and sculpting human hair into jewelry and decorative pieces. These pieces of hair art were often sentimental objects, made from the hair of family, friends, or loved ones whom the maker wished to remember. They were often used as mourning keepsakes.

Hair art used as jewelry and decoration grew in popularity in the 1850s to late 19th century, influenced by Queen Victoria's mourning practices including a brooch that held her husband's hair after his death. Godey's Lady's Book even printed instructions for women to make their own hair art at home.

This piece of hair art in the WCHS Collection features hair that was woven, braided, and shaped on wire strands to create a wreath of flowers. Mysteriously, we do not know who this hair wreath was made by or whose hair it contains. It has been a part of the WCHS Collection since the mid-20th century and provides a fascinating look at Victorian-era skills and mourning practices.

Do you have a favorite Victorian-era mourning practice? Let us know!

10/29/2026

🐈‍⬛ Happy National Cat Day! 🐈‍⬛

Take a look at these photographs of Helen Cornelia (Doub) Stoner, taken ca. 1906. Helen (Doub) Stoner (1901-2000) was the daughter of Daniel W. Doub and Ida Lucretia (Secrist) Doub and lived in Hagerstown. We love these historical photographs from the WCHS Archives showing Helen with a cat on the front porch of a building. (Nothing makes the WCHS Curator happier than finding a photograph that includes a historical Washington County cat.)

10/28/2026

10/27/2026

👻 As we count down to Halloween, here are some of our ghostly reads available in the WCHS library! We love how these books capture local history while sharing about the supernatural and paranormal as well. Do you have a favorite local book perfect for the Halloween season? Let us know in the comments! 👻

🎃 South Mountain Magic by Mrs. Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren (1882)...a Washington County classic!

🎃 Ghosts of Antietam by Mark P. Brugh (2026)...a new release!

🎃 Mysteries and Lore of Western Maryland: Snallygasters, Dogmen and Other Mountain Tales by Susan Fair (2013)

🎃Ghosts of Antietam: Ghost Tales and Other Strange Happenings Indigenous to the Sharpsburg-Antietam Area, collected, written and edited by Wilmer McKendree Mumma (1997)