Gathland State Park is a small park near South
Mountain, MD. It significance is it's connection to the Civil
War. The AT runs through Gathland. Below is a small
excerpt from the Gathland State Park website:
Gathland State Park was once the mountain home of George Alfred
Townsend, a Civil War journalist. It is the site of a unique
collection of buildings and structures that he designed and
constructed, some of which have been restored. A large, stone
monument dedicated to war correspondents is an outstanding
attraction at this day use park. (140 acres) The Appalachian Trail
traverses the park and passes the monument base. Maryland has 37.5
miles of the interstate hiking trail. The park includes all of
Crampton's Gap, which was the southern most gap fought over during
the battle of South Mountain. Fought September 14, 1862, it was the
first major battle of the Civil War fought in Maryland.