Engagement at Westminster: War at the Almshouse

History: On June 29, 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's infantry was in Pennsylvania, and Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry arrived here on the outskirts of Westminster. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee sent the 3rd Virginia Cavalry and an artillery piece across the almshouse fields here. A small Union cavalry force occupied the town and skirmished with the Confederates on Washington Street. Afterwards, Stuart occupied Westminster. During the Battle of Gettysburg, a massive Union supply-wagon park filled the almshouse fields behind Green Street.

More to Explore: The almshouse, founded in 1852, served as the county home for the poor, disabled, and unwanted until the 1960s. The Carroll County Farm Museum was established here in 1966. The museum provides a unique view into 19th-century farm life with guided or self-guided tours of the farm house. The grounds include original farm structures. Period artifacts, antiques and horse-powered machines and farm implements complete the rural experience for visitors.

Photo Credits:

1. "Carroll County Almshouse." Courtesy of the Historical Society of Carroll County.
2. "Pencil drawing of a mule supply train." Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.