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.