Template:Wp-Damascus, Maryland-History

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The area currently known as Damascus was granted by the new U.S. state of Maryland to Nathaniel Pigman in 1783. On February 14, 1819, War of 1812 veteran Edward Hughes bought a section of the grant and began subdividing lots for sale. James Madison, the fourth U.S. president, appointed Hughes postmaster of the developing community of Damascus in 1816. Hughes received permission from Congress for a postal route through the town. Hughes called his town "The Pleasant Plains of Damascus" after Damascus, Syria. A newspaper in Frederick wrote of Hughes's growing town: "There is at this place an extensive opening for mechanics of all the different kinds, and it bids fair to improve very fast; ... There is at present two blacksmith shops, a saddler's shop and a store in the place -- a tailor, a wheel wright, and a shoemaker are much wanted, and would meet with great encouragement." This was the Damascus of 1816. The new township drew settlers from Anne Arundel County as well as from Montgomery County. On September 12, 1862, U.S. Army troops marched through the "village" of Damascus via what is now Route 27 on their way to the town of Sharpsburg, where they engaged Confederate troops commanded by General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Antietam.

The town was incorporated from 1890 to 1914, when the townspeople requested the incorporation be withdrawn so that Old Quaker Road, used since Revolutionary times and before, could be paved into a state highway. The town remains a commercial center for rural communities like Clagettsville, Browningsville, Cedar Grove, Woodfield, King's Valley, Purdum, and Lewisdale, although it is more developed today.^[1]

In spite of spiraling population growth and encroaching urban development, old-timers feel like Damascus retains its rural, small-town character. The Damascus Community Fair—a fully agricultural fair that has been in operation since 1940—attracts thousands of visitors annually in the first weekend of September. 4-H clubs are thriving, and in the past 10 years three new equestrian centers have opened within of downtown Damascus.

November 17, 2009, marked the grand opening of the Damascus Heritage Society Museum.