Thomas Farm Open House

Photo by Elizabeth Richardson. Used with permission.
Not bad for a photo taken through the windshield, huh?

"The house of Mr. C. Keefer Thomas, which was occupied by the Union forces, suffered severely from the fire of the enemy.  One of the shells striking it, entered the dining room and bursting, occasioned considerable damage." 1  

The Monocacy Living Historians are already getting ready for our next event, the Open House at the Thomas Farm. We are neck-deep in archeology reports and newspaper articles, working hard to understand the lives of the families who  lived here. The Thomas House is preserved on our battlefield as a Witness of War, and the Thomas Farm was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the battle. Both sides fought pretty vigorously for it and, of all our houses, it sustained the most damage. If you want to see scars from the battle, this is the event to attend.

That said, the day it saw battle was only one of many, many days in its history. I mentioned in my last post that it was believed to have been built circa 1780, which means the one day this house saw battle was only .00005% of its history. Mostly, it was someone's home, with all the love and security and emotion that our homes evoke.

For those who have been visiting us throughout the series, the Thomas House is the last of our series. It's the most restored of all the houses - it's now our park headquarters - so I encourage you to come out and join us. Together we'll learn more about the stories it has to tell.

Date: Saturday 8/20/2016 and Sunday 8/21/2016
Time: Open house from 11-4 with ranger programs at 11, 12:30, and 2.

Address: 4460 Baker Valley Road, Frederick, MD  21704
Also known as Auto Stop #4.

Tips:
1) Wear comfortable shoes. Even if you don't hike, the grounds are uneven.
2) Bring water and sunscreen. While you won't need those inside the house, the Thomas Farm has some surviving outbuildings that you may want to see more closely. In addition, the walking trail on the Thomas Farm is beautiful. For those with middle-school aged kids who are up for a trek, I have great luck spotting deer plus some other smaller wildlife. In addition, the Middle Ford Ferry has its own history and is beautiful to see.
3) I highly encourage you to attend the ranger program before going through the house, and I'm not just saying that because I'm giving the Sunday programs. They'll paint an overall picture so that as you go through the house, you'll know what you're looking at.

Please come join us. You'll have fun, and I could use some friendly faces in the audience on Sunday. Don't hesitate to come up and introduce yourself; I'd love to meet you!

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1 Locals: Houses and Furniture Destroyed (1864, Jul 13). The (Frederick) Examiner, p. 3, col. 4. Retrieved from www.genealogybank.com.