Germantown, Maryland

===Early history (1830–1865)===
In the 1830s and 1840s, the central business area was focused around the intersection of Liberty Mill Road and Clopper Road. Several German immigrants set up shop at the intersection and the town became known as "German Town", even though most residents of the town were of English or Scottish descent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.germantownmdhistory.org/?q=node/2|work=Germantown Historical Society |author=Germantown Historical Society|title=Germantown's History, A Brief Overview |quote=The crossroads became known as "German town" because of the heavy German accents of these people. The name has stuck even though a majority of the land-owners in the area were of English or Scottish descent. |access-date=March 10, 2013 }}</ref>

====American Civil War====
[[File:Maryland, Germantown. Headquarters Christian Commission in the Field. - NARA - 533327.jpg|thumb|A field headquarters of the U.S. Christian Commission at Germantown in September 1863]]
Although it avoided much of the physical destruction that ravaged other cities in the region, the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] was still a cause of resentment and division among residents of Germantown. Many Germantown residents were [[Abolitionism|against slavery]] and had sons fighting for the [[Union Army]]. In contrast, other residents of Germantown owned slaves, and even those who were not slave-owners had sons fighting for the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]]. As a result, many people in Germantown, who had been on friendly terms with each other, made an effort not to interact with each other, such as switching churches, or frequenting a store or mill miles away from the ones they would normally do business with.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.germantownmdhistory.org/?q=node/2|author=Germantown Historical Society|work=Germantown Historical Society|quote=The Civil War took a terrible toll on Germantown, not because there was any actual fighting here, but because of the animosities between neighbors that it created. Many of the families of German descent were against slavery and had sons fighting in the Union army. Many of the families of English descent owned slaves and even many who didn't, had sons fighting in the Confederate army. Many people who had formerly been friendly went out of their way to not have to deal with each other, some changing churches, or going to a mill or store miles distant from the one they usually used.|title=Germantown's History, A Brief Overview|access-date=March 10, 2013}}</ref>

Late in the summer and fall of 1861, there were more than twenty thousand Union soldiers camped to the west of Germantown, in neighboring [[Darnestown, Maryland|Darnestown]] and [[Poolesville, Maryland|Poolesville]]. Occasionally, these soldiers would come to Germantown and frequent the stores there. In September 1862 and in June 1863, several regiments of Union Army soldiers marched north on [[Maryland Route 355]], on their way to the [[Battle of Antietam|battles of Antietam]] and [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]], respectively. In July 1864, General [[Jubal Early]] led his army of Confederate soldiers down Maryland Route 355 to attack the Union capital of [[Washington, D.C.]] Throughout the course of the war, Confederate raiders would often pass through the Germantown area. Local farmers in the Germantown area lost horses and other livestock to both Union and Confederate armies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.germantownmdhistory.org/?q=node/2|author=Germantown Historical Society|work=Germantown Historical Society|quote=In the late summer and fall of 1861 there were more than 20,000 Union soldiers camped to the west of Germantown in the Darnestown and Poolesville areas. Sometimes these soldiers would come to the stores in Germantown. In September, 1862, and June, 1863, many regiments of Union soldiers marched north on Rt. 355 on their way to the Battles of Antietam and Gettysburg. In July, 1864, Gen. Jubal Early led his Confederate army down Rt. 355 to attack Washington, D.C. Confederate raiders also came through the area several times during the War. Local farmers lost horses and other livestock to the armies of both sides.|title=Germantown's History, A Brief Overview|access-date=March 10, 2013}}</ref>

====Assassination of Abraham Lincoln====
In 1865, [[George Atzerodt]], a co-conspirator in the [[assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassination]] of [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]], was captured in Germantown. Atzerodt had come to the town with his family from Prussia when he was about nine years old. About five years later, his father moved the family to [[Virginia]], but Atzerodt still had many friends and relatives in Germantown.<ref name="American Brutus"/> He was living in Port Tobacco during the Civil War, and supplementing his meager income as a carriage painter by smuggling people across the Potomac River in a rowboat. This clandestine occupation brought him into contact with [[John Surratt]] and [[John Wilkes Booth]] and he was drawn into a plot to kidnap President Lincoln. On April 14, 1865, Booth gave Atzerodt a gun and told him that he was to kill [[Vice President of the United States|U.S. Vice President]] [[Andrew Johnson]], which he refused to do.<ref name="American Brutus"/> When he found out that Booth had shot Lincoln, Atzerodt panicked and fled to the Germantown farm of his cousin Hartman Richter, on Schaeffer Road near Clopper Road. He was discovered there by soldiers on April 20, six days after the assassination. Atzerodt was tried, convicted and [[Hanging|hanged]] on July 7, 1865, along with co-conspirators [[Mary Surratt]], [[Lewis Powell (assassin)|Lewis Powell]], and [[David Herold]] at [[Washington, D.C.]]'s [[Fort Lesley J. McNair|Fort McNair]].<ref name="American Brutus">{{cite book|last=Kauffman|first=M.|title=American Brutus|year=2004|publisher=Random House|isbn=0-375-75974-3|pages=282–284}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.germantownmdhistory.org/?q=node/2|author=Germantown Historical Society|work=Germantown Historical Society|title=Germantown's History, A Brief Overview}}</ref><ref>"George Atzerodt: The Reluctant Assassin," The Montgomery County Story, Montgomery County Historical Society, Vol. 58 No. 1, summer 2015</ref>