Frederick County

Several famous people in Maryland history came from Frederick County, including Thomas Johnson, the state's first elected governor, and John Hanson, America's first president under the Articles of Confederation. Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star-Spangled Banner," was born in Frederick and shared a law practice with his brother-in-law, Roger Brooke Taney. Taney later became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Visitors can see where he spent his early years at the Roger Brooke Taney Home and Francis Scott Key Museum in the city of Frederick, the county seat.

The first settlers were Pennsylvania Germans who came to Frederick in 1730 and named the county and county seat in 1748 for Frederick Calvert, the sixth and last Lord Baltimore. The oldest building in the county is a German farm house in Frederick now called the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum.

Frederick County, located in both the Appalachian Mountain and Piedmont Plateau regions, has more farms than any other county in Maryland. Several vineyards and covered bridges dot the countryside. Lilypons Water Gardens in Buckeystown is the largest water garden in the United States and the little town of New Market is "the antiques capital of Maryland." Emmitsburg is the home of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint.

Frederick also has a wealth of Civil War history. The Barbara Fritchie House and Museum is a replica of the house where 96-year-old Barbara Fritchie reportedly confronted General Stonewall Jackson when Confederate forces marched into Frederick in early September 1862. The event was immortalized by poet John Greenleaf Whittier. "Shoot if you must this old gray head, but spare your country's flag,' she said." According to Whittier's account, Jackson was impressed and spared the flag and the town of Frederick. The National Museum of Civil War Medicine has exhibits on medical techniques used during the war. Just outside of town, Monocacy National Battlefield was the site of a battle which played a pivotal role in defending Washington D.C. in 1864.

Montgomery county

Prince George's County

Prince George's County is a place to learn about farming and Maryland agriculture and to explore the history of space travel, especially at the visitor center at Goddard Space Flight Center, the hub of NASA's tracking operations. You can also visit the Accokeek Foundation's colonial tobacco plantation and the National Colonial Farm Museum. The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel conducts important research on endangered species and also has fishing, hunting, bird watching and educational programs. Other places to enjoy the outdoors include Oxon Hill Children's Farm, Watkins Regional Park, Prince George's Equestrian Center and the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary in Upper Marlboro, a good place to see wild geese. Maryland's largest amusement park, Six Flags America, offers many thrills with exciting rollercoasters and water rides.

Prince George's County was founded in 1696 and named for Prince George of Denmark, husband of England's Princess Anne. The county seat is Upper Marlboro, which was named for the first Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, an ancestor of Winston Churchill. Darnall's Chance in Upper Marlboro is believed to be the birthplace of Daniel Carroll, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and his brother, John Carroll, the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in America.

Another famous - or infamous - person lived in Prince George's County, too. The Surratt Museum in Clinton is the former home of Mary Surratt. Charged with conspiring to assassinate President Lincoln, she was the first woman hanged by the federal government.