Gathland State Park on South Mountain near Burkittsville preserves the former estate of George Alfred Townsend, a Civil War correspondent who wrote as Gath. Established on land he bought at Crampton’s Gap in 1884, the property developed from his private retreat into a site that joins Civil War memory, journalism, and recreation. Its most notable feature is the 1896 War Correspondents Memorial Arch, the first monument in the world dedicated to journalists killed in combat. Surviving estate buildings, exhibits on the Battle of Crampton’s Gap, and the Appalachian Trail all contribute to a landscape that became a Maryland state park in 1949.

Burkittsville, Maryland · USA