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The town of Emmitsburg
sits quietly at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Residents
seem to thrive on the neighbor-knows-neighbor lifestyle that has
existed there since Samuel Emmit founded the town in 1757 with
only seven families. The land that Emmit purchased from the
Carroll family of Annapolis was bounded by Middle Creek, Tom’s
Creek, Friends Creek, and the Pennsylvania state line to the
north. In August of 1785, Emmit divided his holdings into town
lots.
Emmitsburg is noted for its religious and educational roots.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Reverend Father John
Dubois and Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton each established a school
for higher education there: Mount St. Mary’s College and St.
Joseph’s College for Women, respectively. In the course of a few
years, those two schools came to merit nationwide recognition.
St. Joseph’s closed in 1972, and many of its students
transferred to Mount St. Mary’s.
Emmitsburg is the site of the first free parochial school in
the United States, created by Mother Seton in 1910. One of
Maryland’s first public high schools was in Emmitsburg; its
first class graduated in 1898. The school’s building is still in
use —now as a community center.
Emmitsburg’s civic and patriotic organizations are many: the
Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, American Legion, Knights of
Columbus, Veterans of Foreign War, Little League, Girl Scouts,
and Boy Scouts.
Arts and entertainment are but a short drive away in
Baltimore (50 miles), Washington D.C. (65 miles), and
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (50 miles). Historic Gettysburg is
only ten miles away to the north.
Quaint and picturesque, Emmitsburg is rich in many other
ways: in history, religion, education, and the people that make
up the community.
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