Thurmont lies at the foothills of the Catoctin Mountain Range in north central Frederick County, 60 miles northwest of Baltimore. There was a settlement there on the Monocacy River about 1792. More buildings were added in the 1750s as the route from Hagerstown to Baltimore via Harman’s Gap became more travelled. The area incorporated for the first time as Mechanicstown in 1831, deriving its name from its population of mechanics who emigrated from Germany with their families and set up blacksmith, tilt-hammer, and wheel-wright shops along the busy road.

The town re-incorporated in 1894, changing its name this time to the more poetic “Thurmont,” meaning Gateway to the Mountains.

Thurmont, with its skilled mechanics and farmers and its location at the intersection of roads leading west and south, was destined to grow. It now supports a population of over 4,000 citizens, many bearing the names of the pioneer families who settled the area in the 1700s—Weller, Creager, Wilhide, Firor, and Eyler.