Sharpsburg, Maryland
| Sharpsburg, Maryland | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
A street clock in downtown Sharpsburg in October 2007
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 Location of Sharpsburg, Maryland |
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| Coordinates: 39°27′28″N 77°44′58″W / 39.45778°N 77.74944°WCoordinates: 39°27′28″N 77°44′58″W / 39.45778°N 77.74944°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Maryland |
| County | Washington |
| Settled | 1740 |
| Founded | 1763 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.23 sq mi (0.60 km2) |
| • Land | 0.23 sq mi (0.60 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 420 ft (128 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 705 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 710 |
| • Density | 3,065.2/sq mi (1,183.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 21782 |
| Area code(s) | 301 |
| FIPS code | 24-71600 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0587310 |
| Website | www |
Sharpsburg is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States, located approximately 13 miles (21 km) south of Hagerstown. The population was 705 at the 2010 census.
During the American Civil War, the Battle of Antietam (or Battle of Sharpsburg) was fought on what is now Antietam National Battlefield, in the vicinity of Antietam Creek.
Joseph Chapline was the first to settle in the area, circa 1740. At the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, Chapline founded a town, naming it in honor of his friend Horatio Sharpe, the Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland. Its original settlers were mostly of German or Swiss origin, leading to an increase in wheat production.
Located east of the Potomac River, Sharpsburg attracted industry in the early 19th century, especially after the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was extended to Sharpsburg in 1836. The town was incorporated in 1832.
Sharpsburg gained national recognition during the American Civil War, when Confederate General Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland with his Army of Northern Virginia in the summer of 1862 and was intercepted near the city by Union General George B. McClellan with the Army of the Potomac. The rival armies met on September 17, in the Battle of Antietam (also called the Battle of Sharpsburg). It would be the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, and in American military annals, with a total of nearly 23,000 casualties to both sides. A few days earlier, the multi-sited Battle of South Mountain occurred at the three low-lying passes in South Mountain—Crampton's Gap, Turner's Gap, and Fox's Gap—where Lee's forces attempted to hold back the advancing Union regiments moving westward especially along the important National Road (now U.S. Route 40 Alternate) which is now a part of South Mountain State Battlefield Park.
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