Burkittsville

Town Council
Jill Lancaster
Jayme Marshall
Catherine Cox Murray

Clerk⁄treasurer
Michele Beller

Town meetings
500 E. Main St.
7:30 p.m., second Monday of every other month, Burkittsville Ruritan

History
Burkittsville is a village steeped in rural heritage and Civil War legacy. The town and its residents are intent on preserving Burkittsville as a historic resource.
The town was settled in 1732, and over the next century a small village developed. Joshua Harley opened a store in the village in 1820 and became the town’s first postmaster in 1824. First called Harley’s Post Office, Burkittsville was renamed after a prominent landowner soon after.
A Civil War battle was fought in Burkittsville on Sept. 14, 1862, just days before the bloody Battle of Antietam.
In 1975, Burkittsville was designated as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
Burkittsville is also the home of Gathland State Park, an estate that once belonged to George A. Townsend, a Civil War correspondent in the late 1800s. The parcel of land was acquired by the State of Maryland and became a state park in the mid-20th century
Burkittsville’s current population rests at 171. There has been little change in the town’s size during the past 100 years. The number peaked in 1870 with a high of 273 people.