Robert F. Barrick Memorial Library

Robert Frederick Barrick entered military service in 1909 as a private in the Maryland National Guard in Frederick, Maryland, and was commissioned in 1917. In 1926, he was given the task of building a Maryland National Guard training camp on a mountain site near Cascade, Maryland, which was named Camp Albert C. Ritchie for the governor of Maryland at that time. With only a seventh grade education and engineering knowledge limited to what he learned from books in his free time, supplemented by practical experience, natural talent, and determination, Barrick drew plans for and directed the construction of every stone building on the post. This building was originally an officers dining hall. Barrick was promoted to major in 1937 and, in 1942, received a Regular Army commission. He retired in 1953 with the rank of lieutenant colonel and died in Frederick in 1966.

Fort Ritchie, Maryland · United States