Notes |
- In 1739, Jonathan Hager, a German immigrant from Pennsylvania and a volunteer Captain of Scouts, purchased 200 acres of land in the Great Appalachian Valley between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains in Maryland and called it Hager’s Fancy. At this time, there were already about 100 settlers in the area. In 1762, Hager officially founded the town of Elizabethtown which he named after his wife, Elizabeth Kershner. Although the town's official name is Elizabethtown, the popular name for it becomes Hagerstown. Fourteen years later, in 1776, Jonathan Hager became known as the "Father of Washington County" after his efforts helped Elizabethtown become the county seat of newly created Washington County, which Hager also helped create, from neighboring Frederick County. The City Council changed the community's name to Hagerstown in 1813 because the name had gained popular usage, and in the following year, the Maryland State Legislature officially endorsed the changing of the town’s name.
|